OTTAWA — A medevac plane that crashed in April before reaching Churchill didn’t have enough fuel to reach its destination, according to a federal watchdog. “The flight crew declared a mayday due to a fuel issue,” reads an initial report from the Transportation Safety Board.. READ MORE
Gravely ill post-surgery mother died after four-hour wait in St. Boniface ER last week, woman says
A Manitoba woman said her 63-year-old mother died in surgery after waiting more than four hours in the St. Boniface Hospital emergency room last Wednesday, the same day the hospital was directing visitors away from its chaotic ER due to a shortage of hospital beds. Monica Richard said her mother, Madeliene Richard, had been home […]
CRA moves to slash ‘excessive’ fees charged by disability tax credit companies
The Canada Revenue Agency is proposing to dramatically slash what it calls “excessive” fees some companies charge to help Canadians apply for the disability tax credit, nearly five years after it was told to do so. The move, which according to the CRA could put millions of dollars back in the hands of disabled people, is being applauded […]
Grieving family upset about mother’s treatment, death at St. B
An 80-year-old great-grandmother waited almost seven hours in a city emergency room before being treated for a minor heart attack, her family said. She died in the hospital a day later. Now, her daughters are looking for answers. “We were never told how serious this could be,” said Cathy Hunter. “If we would have known, […]
ER chaos, bed crunch at St. Boniface cause for alarm: physician
When emergency room physician Paul Doucet arrived at work at St. Boniface Hospital on Wednesday morning, he was alarmed at what he saw. At 11 a.m., there were 22 admitted patients in the emergency department who were waiting for a hospital bed. Eight of the admitted patients were in the department’s high-acuity area. Two […]
Canada’s health care system is hopelessly sclerotic. We need to wake up: Neil Macdonald
Abruptly, last week, I wound up in an ambulance. Something in my hip had gone sideways, and was delivering a lesson on pain. As we rolled up to the emergency ward, one of the paramedics leaned in: “They might not get to you until tomorrow morning, man. That’s the way it is now. I’m going […]
Atheist nurse’s fight against mandatory AA will go before B.C. Human Rights Tribunal
A B.C. nurse who lost his job when he refused to attend a 12-step program for addiction will get a chance to argue he was discriminated against as an atheist. Byron Wood contends Alcoholics Anonymous’s emphasis on placing your life in the hands of a higher power simply won’t work for someone who doesn’t hold […]
WCB claims by nurses escalating amid rising patient volumes: union
Nurses made 256 injury claims to the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba between 2013 and 2018, with the rate of claims escalating by 311 per cent during the five-year period. The Manitoba Nurses Union obtained the WCB data through a freedom of information request, which was shared with the Free Press. It showed the number of […]
Canada’s first accessibility bill could become law next month, Minister says
The federal government will heed the calls of Canada’s disabled community and amend the country’s first piece of national accessibility legislation to include some of the changes they sought, the minister spearheading the effort said Thursday. Accessibility Minister Carla Qualtrough said the government will be adopting all the amendments the Senate introduced to Bill C-81, […]
Please abstain: How industrial companies are grappling with legalized cannabis
Seven months after the legalization of recreational cannabis, Garnet Amundson’s worries have not abated. Amundson is chief executive of Calgary-based Essential Energy Services, with nearly 400 workers, including 350 in safety-sensitive roles in the oilpatch. Topping his list of concerns is having employees who can pass any type of drug test on any given day and arrive at work without […]