Another family is raising questions about the death of a loved one who attended the emergency room of Abbotsford Regional Hospital (ARH).
John Hehn, 85, fell down the stairs of his Aldergrove home on Thursday, May 18, striking his head on the ground. Hehn was taken in an ambulance to ARH where, despite being diagnosed with facial fractures, he was told to take Tylenol and released. The next day, Hehn, in severe pain, was brought back to ARH, where he was diagnosed with fractured vertebrae in his neck. On May 20, he went into cardiac arrest while undergoing a CT scan, and was put on life support. He died later that day.
After John fell, his wife Shirley called the couple鈥檚 daughter Carleen, who lived nearby. She arrived to find her father lying on the floor, but conscious.
鈥淗e said 鈥楯ust don鈥檛 panic, don鈥檛 panic.鈥� 鈥�
While John wanted help with his legs, Carleen wasn鈥檛 sure she should be touching or moving her father. But when paramedics arrived, Carleen said they had John walk out of the house to a gurney, a decision she now questions.
At the hospital, a CAT scan detected no brain bleeding, and Carleen was told 鈥渢here was no medical reason鈥� to keep John overnight.
鈥淚 was shocked,鈥� she said.
Told John could return home, and not knowing about his broken neck, his family tried to lay him down. The next day 鈥� which saw him spend a day in pain at home, without use of his legs or arms 鈥� was 鈥渁bsolutely awful,鈥� said Shirley Hehn, John鈥檚 wife of 66 years. Only the next day, after the family had brought John back to hospital, did a second doctor perform X-rays that revealed the true extent of the injuries.
The first doctor, Carleen said, 鈥渟hould have been more thorough and the doctor the second night told us that,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e said there are certain protocol for tests you do for that trauma.
鈥淓ven without the broken neck they found my dad had, he said he should have been kept overnight for observation.鈥�
Carleen said 鈥渆verybody loved鈥� her father.
鈥淗e was such a kind man,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e would help anyone.鈥�
The Hehn family is close, with Carleen, her sister, and the pair鈥檚 four children all living in close proximity to John and Shirley.
And although John was in the first stages of Alzheimer鈥檚, Carleen said he was looking forward with optimism.
鈥淛ust a couple days ago, he said, 鈥楬ow many more years until I am 100?鈥� 鈥�
Fraser Health says it has been in touch with the family and is reviewing the circumstances of the death.
鈥淲e have been in touch with the family to offer our condolences and to let them know we are conducting our review,鈥� spokesperson Tasleem Juma said.
Any changes recommended by the review will be shared at a later date, according to Juma.
The family has also filed a complaint with the patient care quality review board.
John isn鈥檛 the only person this year to be sent home from ARH only to die days later.
In February, three-year-old Nimrat Gill died at ARH from a rare and aggressive infectious disease. She had been brought to hospital by her parents a day before she died, but was sent home. Her parents brought her back the next day as her symptoms worsened. She died on Feb. 7. In had been caused by invasive group A streptococcal disease. A review of the death led to several changes in how staff assess pediatric patients.
Also in February, died several days after she went to hospital complaining of chest pains, only to be told she was experiencing a muscle spasm and sent home.
was sent home from the ARH ER with the 鈥渟tomach flu,鈥� only to be later diagnosed with a ruptured gall bladder and told he would have died in three days had he not visited his family doctor.
Since those issues, the province has announced that the hospital鈥檚 ER .
Despite the high-profile incidents, the , though, according to numbers obtained by The News.
