Skip to the 1:34:50 mark of the video below to hear Madgal family's story.

Another Brampton resident, Judith Martin, shared her family’s story through a letter read aloud to council. Martin’s 94-year-old mother, Muriel Fletcher, died at BCH on April 10, 2019.

Martin told council that due to previous visits to BCH where her mother sat and suffered in hallways for extended periods, she was hesitant to send her back.

“After discussions with her doctor, we agreed that unless mom ever had a fall, fever or other treatable symptoms, they were not to send her to the ER. I did not want her to go through that hell again,” said Martin. “On Sunday, April 7, 2019 my mom was taken to the ER for suspected pneumonia.”

She spent the better part of two days on a stretcher in the ER, according to Martin.

“From what we recall, mom was moved from the hallway into a room in the ER sometime between Sunday and Monday. I was finally well enough to attend to her on Tuesday morning. I found her still on a stretcher but at least in a room in the ER,” Martin said. “When I got to the treatment area where my mom was, I was horrified to see stretchers everywhere.”

“One could hardly walk through the maze of stretchers crowded into that treatment area. Sick and vulnerable people are subjected to light and noise 24 hours a day. They have no privacy and cannot sleep — it was a barbaric environment for patients,” she added.

Martin said her mother then began to develop bed sores and was visibly uncomfortable. Once it became clear the end was near, her mother was moved to a palliative care bed where she spent her final hours with family.

“My brother and I sat with her holding her hands and talking to her until she passed away peacefully later that afternoon,” she said. “I realize mom was lucky to get a palliative bed, and I’m horrified to think that she could have died on a stretcher in the hallway.”

Skip to the 1:17:45 mark of the video below to hear Muriel Fletcher's story.

While acknowledging BCH is often over capacity and in “code gridlock,” William Osler Health System executive vice-president of quality, medical and academic affairs, Dr. Naveed Mohammad, said no patients have died in the hallways.

“We have 608 beds at Brampton Civic (and) we have 17 hallway spots where we put admitted patients in a hallway up on our units. We use very significant and tight clinical judgment rules as to who goes in the hallway,” he said. “We do try to get them into a private room whether it's within the ER or up on the floor as soon as possible. Unfortunately, with the volume, the acuity and the pressures on ERs all across Ontario, this is a reality that we are trying to address.”

“The main thing to remember is that when it comes to physician care and nursing care, the people and the patients are getting the same great care regardless of where they are (in the hospital),” added Dr. Mohammad.