After contracting a painful infection, Lloyd Coakwell sought emergency care at RUH — only to be left in a hallway under bright lights, surrounded by constant noise, and across from a busy area where soiled laundry was handled.
“I am a cancer patient who recently had to seek emergency care due to an extremely painful infection, and what I experienced was both unacceptable and heartbreaking,” said Coakwell. “The physical toll of being left in those conditions while fighting an infection was immense, but the mental and emotional toll was equally devastating.”
Coakwell described the experience as “deeply demoralizing,” saying that patients are being treated “like just another body in a system that is breaking down.”
Overcrowding at RUH has grown so severe that patients are being placed in hallways near high-traffic and unsanitary areas, putting them at further risk.
It has been two weeks since more than 450 healthcare workers at RUH signed an open letter to the Sask. Party government warning that hallway healthcare and unsafe conditions have become routine.
Keith Jorgenson, Associate Shadow Minister for Health, said Coakwell’s experience is another sign of a healthcare system in crisis.
“Cancer patients in our province deserve the best care we give them,” said Jorgenson. “Lloyd, and every patient like him, deserves a room, not a hall bed next to the dirty laundry.
“What happened to him is disgraceful, and unfortunately commonplace after 18 years of this Sask. Party government.
“We need big, bold change to get our health system out of last place. We need accountability and answers from this failed Sask. Party Government and specifically Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, who clearly isn’t doing his job.”
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