Scott Macdonald was suffering the worst pain of his life when he and his wife drove to the Moncton Hospital last Wednesday.

After arriving, a nurse and security guard told Candy Price that paramedics were the only ones who could bring him inside.

With the front doors of the hospital within sight, and Macdonald writhing in pain, staff told them to call 911 for an ambulance.

A statement signed by Moncton Hospital’s chief of staff, Dr. Serge Melanson, said the “Horizon Health Network takes patient care seriously and recognizes this was an unsatisfactory experience for one of our patients.” (Horizon is the province’s English-language health network.)

The statement goes on to say that staff can decide to seek assistance from paramedics to bring a patient inside. And that the health network is reviewing the practice it said is infrequent.

But it’s not enough for the Moncton couple. They have filed a formal complaint.

Macdonald’s pain — and medical nightmare — began on the way home from work 5:30 p.m.

“I thought I was going to take the steering wheel off the car,” Macdonald, 44, told the Star from the couple’s home Tuesday. “It was unbearable.”

He pulled over into an empty parking lot, his vision blurred, his clothes soaked with sweat, and the pain in his back shooting through him. He called Price.

“I figured, yeah, if I could get him to the hospital, we’d be able to get the help we needed,” said Price. “That’s not how it worked.”

When they arrived, Price entered the hospital while Macdonald stayed in the car, unable to move. Price said a nurse accompanied by a security guard and registration desk attendant told her she’d have to call 911 for help getting him inside.

Price called the emergency line and said the paramedic on the other line sounded incredulous.

“He said, ‘Ma’am, can you repeat where you are?’ . . . By then, I’m getting a little frustrated, angry and worried,” Price said, recalling the phone conversation.

Tracy Bell, spokesperson for New Brunswick Emergency Medical Services, confirmed paramedics were called to the hospital Wednesday around 7 p.m. Bell said crews are called to hospitals “on occasion . . . however, that could be for any number of medical reasons, including someone who was injured outside or very near a hospital.”

After he was taken inside, a doctor told Macdonald he had a severe muscle spasm, and gave him painkillers.

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Price said they’ve been to a chiropractor, who helped ease some of the pain, but Macdonald is still having to take oxycodone every four hours.

“I just want to get better and get back to work,” he said.