Following our breaking the story about the treatment of Gail Glesby after her return visit to the emergency room of the Health Sciences Centre in October 2004 and of the family now demanding answers, the Winnipeg Sun picked up the theme in Saturday's paper-- and got a strange explanation from health care officials.
We got the ball rolling with the background of the case on Thursday, when we reported exclusive details of our consulting doctors' review of the official file and coroners report, and narrative notes by Gail's daughter.
Ashley fought in vain with HSC staff for Gail to be treated with dignity and respect. Instead, Gail was accused of "faking" clear symptoms of a brain bleed, and was getting the bum's rush out the door to clear a bed even when her brain injury had rendered her incapacitated.
Here is a link to that broadcast: http://www.kick.fm/2009/04/tragic-story-of-gail-glesby.html
In our exclusive follow-up interview with Gail's sister Heidi on Friday, she told the Kick-FM audience that the hospital had ignored Gail as she lay dying; refused to speak to her after she rushed to Gail's bedside, because they knew she was a nurse and had tough questions for the staff; and the HSC and WRHA had thwarted their right to closure by ignoring her survivors' concerns since the death.
Sun reporter Paul Turenne spoke to Gail's daughter Ashley for his Saturday story Hospital apology sought, Late mom ill-treated at HSC, woman says.
She repeated the ugly details including Gail being left to languish against a wall for hours strapped into a wheelchair , with the declaration, "She was treated awfully in that hospital ... Nobody should have to go through that".
Turenne contacted the WRHA offices for reaction, and was told "all the formal reviews were done at the time, but will be reviewed now to ensure nothing was missed. Because of that ongoing review, the spokeswoman said she could not provide information about what happened to Gail Glesby."
It would appear the formal reviews missed at least one not-so-minor thing - SPEAKING WITH THE FAMILY.
The family that insisted she was not faking but was truly deteriorating and required proper examination. That argued she was unfit to be discharged to their care, let alone to be shipped to a homeless shelter as threatened by nurses. That had to change her bedsheets and clear her breathing tube, as she lay in a coma slipping from life in the hospital.
Other questions now become obvious:
* Were the "formal reviews" shared with the Chief Medical Examiner -- or do officials mean HIS and other post-mortem reports, which specifically said Glesby's fall after being sent unattended to the bathroom was a likely source of the brain trauma that killed her ?
* Was Glesby's fall and/or death reported as a critical care incident?
* Did officials speak to the staffer who scratched out the discharge time and note on the chart, after Gail was found in the wheelchair at least 2 hours after staff told Ashley her mom had left the building?
TGCTS will have more on the Glesby case on Monday.
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This past week TGCTS also had the exclusive about a lawsuit filed against the Province of Manitoba, after the December seizure of a kennel of dogs called "labradoodles" from a local breeder.
Despite hysterical media and animal rights groups claims of a "puppy mill" abusing the animals, no charges were ever filed against the breeder, and his property was sold with no accounting or remission of the proceeds, to him.
The possibly illegal re-distribution of the animals almost ensnared US President Obama in the controversy, as a local official engaged in a cheap publicity stunt that a "rescued" labradoodle might join the Obama family in the White House after the inauguration.
Lawyer Gene Zazalenchuk filed the Statement of Claim on behalf of Heron Creek Outfitters Inc. for $100,000 for the value of the dogs plus other damages, asserting the warrantless seizure was baseless and done with excessive force, and that the sale of the dogs was conducted even after an objection was filed with the Minister as provided for in the Animal Care Act. The province has 20 days to file a response.
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The David Asper - Bomber stadium deal got a lot of strong reaction on local blogs, with particularly interesting commentary from Hacks and Wonks, Graham Hnatiuk, Policy Frog and, in an elaboration of his comments on our Thursday show about poor comprehension of the issues by young MSM reporters, Scott Taylor. All worthwhile reads.
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Our thanks to all the well-wishers who saw us Friday night at the Brewnos, and in particular to the band The Eardrums, for their dedication of a cover of the B-52's Rock Lobster to yours truly. We acquired a copy of their CD and will be using the tunage on the show this coming week.
And not only was it a rockin' good time with great friends like Kick-FM's The Beat and our Thursday producer Shannah-Lee Vidal, the flatbread pizza at the host venue Academy Bar and Grill was a taste sensation.
Also, we spent time visiting at the Zoo which was jam packed for a 3-tribute band playbill. The quartet Christ Punchers stole the show with their high energy Rage Against The Machine set. And we have arranged for free tickets to the big June 12/13th doubleheader, when punk legends DOA with Joe Keithley appear, so stay tuned to win, courtesy of Chuck and Dave Green and the Osborne Village Inn.
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Yesterday, the Editor of The Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer, made his first appearance on our show and shared in a rollicking preview of Wrestlemania 25 and the WWE Hall of Fame inductions that include Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ricky Steamboat and old=school AWA fan favorite Cowboy Bill Watts. On Monday after 5 PM, we will go into all the results and other news of the big weekend in Houston, with Frank the Italian Barber.
On Tuesday at 4.30 PM, Red River College prexy Dr. Jeff Zabudsky will explain the recommendations of the Vehicle Standards Advisory Board that he helped develop, and perhaps answer questions like:
- will service stations be allowed to charge for mandatory air compressors?
- are car pools going to be allowed to use Diamond Lanes?
- what is the projected cost of proposed new public and private sector "mandatory workplace transportation demand management" bureaucracies ?
- why should Manitobans upgrade their cheap winter beaters, when potholes are already wrecking front ends and have the potential to outright destroy the more expensive "fuel efficient" vehicles they may be forced to buy ?
And on Wednesday at 4.10 PM, the return of Kelly Dehn and CTV Crimewatch !
Your emails welcome talk@kick.fm.
