Labrador resident Scott Russell had been in such intense pain and near starvation — he had lost about 90 pounds, or nearly half of his weight — that his wife drove more than 1,000 kilometres to Corner Brook, N.L., to get him the medical care he needed.
Russell and his wife, Mina Campbell, had waited for months to hear from a vascular surgeon in St. John’s, but when they eventually saw the surgeon, Campbell said, he told them he had never received a call.
“[The surgeon] was surprised. He said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,'” Campbell said. “Whatever happened shouldn’t have happened because Scott was starving to death all this time.”
Campbell said something has to change so no one else has to spend months waiting for a phone call that never comes, worried their loved one will die.
Recurring pain
Russell had a blockage in an artery from his stomach to his bowels in 2022. It caused intense pain after eating. In October 2022, after Russell had a stent put in by a surgeon in St. John’s, he was slowly able to eat and return to normal.
In February, the symptoms reappeared. Campbell said they were the same — intense pain after eating.
“He’s not eating. He can’t eat because he knows he’s going to be in pain,” Campbell said. “He was drinking Boost and Ensure and all this stuff but none of it was working.”
Campbell said Russell saw doctors 16 times — online, in person and at the ER — between February and the end of August. The doctors conducted tests until July, including a CT scan that checked the artery with the stent and found it was clear.
On Aug. 3, 2023, medical records show a referral letter was sent for Russell to see the vascular surgeon again. Records also show that repeated calls were made to the surgeon’s office but they were not returned.
Russell’s pain sent the couple to the emergency rooms at the Labrador Health Centre and Mani Ashini clinic in Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation repeatedly throughout August.
Each time, Campbell said, doctors told the couple they could only do pain management, the same as what could be done at home, while waiting for the surgeon.
By Aug. 23, Campbell said, Russell had lost about 90 pounds, down to a weight of 112 pounds, and was still turned away at the Labrador Health Centre emergency room without being admitted.
‘He was starving’
“I couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t admit him because he was starving and you could tell by looking at him,” Campbell said. “He was so weak. I mean, he hadn’t eaten properly for months and he was in pain.”
There were too many mistakes made in this case, or too many things overlooked.— Mina Campbell
She said Russell should have been admitted and monitored.
“He should have been given nourishment. He should have had his pain controlled in the hospital, not at home,” Campbell said, adding that he should have been taken by medevac to St. John’s.
Campbell said that was the breaking point.
A desperate drive
The couple decided to drive 1,040 kilometres from North West River to Corner Brook and went directly to the emergency room at the Western Memorial Regional Hospital.
After an eight-hour wait, Russell was admitted early in the morning on Sept. 1.
Mina Campbell was assured by doctors that followup calls had been placed to a cardiovascular surgeon who Campbell’s husband, Scott Russell, desperately needed to see as he was suffering with intense pain and was near starvation. But the specialist told Russell he had never received any messages.
“They did a more detailed CAT scan than what they did here and they found that he did have another blockage in another artery and this is what was causing his pain, same as it was the year before,” Campbell said.
Medical records show that on Sept. 2, the doctor in Corner Brook decided to contact the vascular surgeon on call in St. John’s rather than Russell’s regular vascular surgeon. Campbell said they didn’t hear back.
Over a week later, on Sept. 11, Russell’s vascular surgeon contacted the doctors at the Corner Brook hospital, Campbell said. The next day he was transported by air ambulance to St. John’s, and on Sept. 13, he had a stent put in his second blocked artery.
“In a couple of days, you know, he could start eating and he wasn’t having pain,” Campbell said.
When the surgeon came to see Russell, Campbell asked for his direct contact information because they had waited more than a month to hear back from his office, she said.
Campbell said that’s when the gaps in the system came into focus.
She said the surgeon told her he had no messages and wasn’t told anything was wrong until Sept. 11, even though Russell’s medical records show four different doctors in Labrador attempting to contact the surgeon in August.
“There’s something wrong somewhere. There’s a miscommunication,” Campbell said.
Campbell now has the surgeon’s direct number for any future incidents but said she doesn’t want anyone else to be in a similar situation.
She wrote a letter to multiple officials explaining what happened.
‘System needs to change’
Campbell said the provincial government needs to look at the health-care system and address errors in communication between departments and the gaps that are turning people away from hospitals when they need care.
“People make mistakes, yes, but it seems like there were too many mistakes made in this case, or too many things overlooked,” Campbell said. “I see the doctors and nurses working very hard … but I think it’s the system that needs to change.”
N.L. Health Services refused an interview but provided a written statement. It said they are actively working to improve patient care. It said emergency rooms go by a triage system.
The statement said doctors will send referrals to specialists based on how their symptoms are triaged, and wait times can vary. It said improving wait times is a priority for Health Services and new initiatives are being reviewed.
The Department of Health and Community Services did not respond directly to questions but a statement from N.L. Health Services spokesperson Jon Oake called the situation detailed in Campbell’s letter “unfortunate.”
The statement says the department is “requesting N.L. Health Services to investigate and advise the department of any measures that need to be taken.”
Health Minister Tom Osborne replied to Campbell’s letter personally on Dec. 11, telling them the matter was being investigated by N.L. Health Services.
Russell has gained about 30 pounds since being able to eat after his surgery in September.
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