A Maple Ridge mother thinks the health care system is broken after her ill toddler was sent home from Ridge Meadows Hospital, only to be diagnosed a day later with pneumonia.
“This could have been a really bad situation,” said Amanada Ouvrard, who said her son should have been admitted to hospital.
“As a mother, I tried to get my son help, and they refused him help. I have little faith in the health care system.”
Ouvrard got a phone call while at work from her son’s preschool last Wednesday, that he was lethargic and running a fever of 103 F.
She got there at about 5 p.m. to find her normally busy three-year-old Landon propped on a cushion in the corner. At the advice of her family doctor’s office, she went straight to emergency at Ridge Meadows Hospital.
About 45 minutes after arriving, he was triaged.
She said the emergency ward was full, and at about 8 p.m., they finally saw a doctor.
Landon’s temperature was taken and found to be 100 F.
Ouvrard said medical staff tried to take her son’s blood pressure, but the cuff wouldn’t fit on his arm.
She said the doctor told her not to be concerned with the fever, diagnosed a cold, and said the boy would be able to return to preschool the next day.
Afterward, Ouvrard found Landon was “weak, and not himself.” When he got home, he curled up with his knees to his chest and went to sleep in a way that he never had before.
The next day, she visited her family doctor, who gave Landon an exam. He gave Ouvrard a prescription for antibiotics, a puffer, and asked that she have her son’s chest X-rayed. She had the X-rays done on that Thursday, and on Saturday got a call from her family doctor that her son had pneumonia.
She had already started him on a course of antibiotics, and his condition was improving.
“I broke down and started crying. I could be without my son if I didn’t trust my instinct,” she said.
Her situation happened as Fraser Health was still answering questions about a similar incident that involved the death of an Abbotsford toddler in early February.
Three-year-old Nimrat Gill died of suspected pneumonia the day after being sent home. The little girl’s mother, Balraj Gill, took her back to the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre the next day, where she died.
“It’s really scary to know the health care system let a child die, and they almost let it happen again,” said Ouvrard.
By Tuesday, her son’s health had improved.
“He’s doing a lot better. He has bounced back, and that’s a really good sign.”
She complained to Fraser Health about her experience at Ridge Meadows Hospital, and did not appreciate being told she should not have spoken to media.
“They care more about the politics than actually helping,” said Ouvrard. “I just care that my son gets help when he needs it.”
Tasleem Juma of Fraser Health would not comment on specific questions about Landon’s care, but said any time a person comes to emergency, a full assessment is conducted – taking temperatures, vital signs and cardiac examinations. She added there are 115,000 pediatric visits at emergency rooms across the region each year, and the majority involve fever.
Illnesses change over time, and emergency room staff advise patients that if their temperature rises or conditions worsen, they should come back.
“Time will give them an indication of what’s happening in their illness,” said Juma.
There is nothing to suggest that the proper processes were not followed in Landon’s case, she said.
Patients can file a formal complaint with Fraser Health’s patient care quality office, and the health authority will conduct a review of the file and provide the complainant with a written response.
If the complainant remains unsatisfied or disagrees with the response, they can appeal to a provincial patient review board, which may identify gaps in service and make recommendations.
“We understand the family’s concern for the well-being of their child,” said Juma.
According to a B.C. Nurse’s Union spokesperson, the Ridge Meadows Hospital emergency ward is not experiencing the problems staff see at the Abbotsford hospital, with its shortage of nursing staff.
However, the union says Ridge Meadows emergency suffers from overcrowding issues that are endemic in hospitals across the region.
Juma responded that it has been a busy winter for emergency departments, with a bad flu season and more slips and falls due to icy conditions.
“Emergency departments are always busy places, and during the winter they can get more busy.”
