Private medical clinic to be named for man who died in Winnipeg hospital
Plans are in the works to open a new walk-in medical clinic named after Brian Sinclair, the man who died while waiting for care in the emergency room of the Health Sciences Centre last fall.
Winnipeg businessman Daren Jorgenson told CBC Radio on Friday that he plans to add to his roster of private clinics in the city by opening a new one in May or June, right across the street from the HSC's emergency room.
Donovan Fontaine, chief of Sagkeeng First Nation, said the Sinclair family has been approached about the idea to name the new clinic after Sinclair. Sagkeeng, about 130 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is the Sinclair family's home reserve.
"It's definitely a good project if that's the intent — to remember and to restore some legacy for Brian," he said. "This would be great, having something to [remind us] that this should never happen again and to not let Brian go in vain."
'It's definitely a good project if that's the intent — to remember and to restore some legacy for Brian.' —Donovan Fontaine, chief Sagkeeng First Nation
Jorgenson confirmed talks to name the clinic after Sinclair are in the works. He agreed that putting a non-government walk-in clinic opposite the HSC emergency department would provide a daily reminder to "the system" of its failure to take care of Sinclair.
Sinclair, a 45-year-old double amputee with a speech problem, was found dead in his wheelchair after spending 34 hours in the HSC emergency department waiting room last September.
An autopsy determined he died as a result of a blood infection brought on by complications of a bladder infection caused by a blocked catheter.
His death could have been prevented had the blood infection been treated, Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, said within days of Sinclair's death. Last week Balachandra announced there would be an inquest into the death.
A date for the inquest has yet to be set.
Jorgensen's three clinics handle 5,000 patients every week in Winnipeg. He has been in discussions with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority for the last couple of years, proposing to open walk-in clinics next door to city hospitals.
Clinics could ease the burden inside emergency rooms
The clinics could take the patients who are in the emergency waiting rooms but do not require emergency care, he said. It could take a load off the emergency rooms, something he believes might have helped Sinclair get quicker attention from hospital staff.
Jorgenson has also offered to build kiosks right beside the main or triage desks in the emergency rooms. A patient assessed as non-urgent could register at the kiosk for the walk-in clinic — an idea he says has been rebuffed for two years, so he has given up on it.
"They are never going to do anything to change the system. They are content with rolling along with a broken system," he said. "We had all the systems in place we were willing to build them a kiosk system right beside the triage desk [at the Health Sciences Centre] for free."
Jorgenson thinks it would have empowered nurses and patients and made delivering care more efficient.
"Those patients could say, 'Look, I know I don't have an emergency issue. I got like a broken knuckle, so here, I'm going to go in and see what my options are,'" he said. "So you could book yourself right in on a kiosk, so you wouldn't leave the emerge not knowing if you're going to be seen at the walk-in clinic.
'How many other people distracted the staff in that emergency department that weekend?' —Daren Jorgenson, owner of walk-in clinics
"Nurses would also be able to direct non-emergency patients to the walk-in clinic, which would allow the true emergency patients to receive faster and more efficient care in the hospital," said Jorgenson, who wonders if it would have made a difference for Sinclair.
"How many other people distracted the staff in that emergency department that weekend, [people] that had non-emergency issues?" he said. "Would Brian have slipped through the cracks?"