FOG BLOG NEW BRUNSWICK LOG: HORIZON REVIEW UNDERWAY AS PATIENT DIES IN NB EMERGENCY ROOM!

Horizon review underway after patient dies in Fredericton ER waiting room Witness John Staples says the health-care system is 'broken,' Liberals call for health minister's resignation A Fredericton man is still reeling after he witnessed a man he describes as a senior in a wheelchair die alone in the waiting room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital's emergency department early Tuesday morning while waiting for care.

John Staples says the experience was a "stark and sombre realization" that New Brunswick's health-care system is "so sadly broken."

"It was a surreal moment because, I mean, I think I realized that they had just passed away in an ER waiting room," he said. "You're at a place where you're supposed to get care and you wind up passing away while you're waiting for that care."

"You're basically at the front door of health care … You're on the threshold of getting the care you need and you don't get it in time."

Staples, a residential support worker at an Oromocto community residence, says he went to the emergency room with a client who needed emergency care around midnight Monday.

He noticed the patient in question, who was several feet in front of them.

"It was very evident that they were in a lot of discomfort, just the way that they were behaving," he said.

"There was moaning and groaning and just the grimace on the face. I mean, it's just, you know, natural signs of discomfort when somebody is ill."