A Labrador woman rushed to St. John's for surgery. She's since been waiting over a week

CBC

2 days ago

A broken arm has forced a Labrador woman to travel to St. John's for surgery, but her husband says she's stuck in limbo and waiting to get into an operating room as her arm turns a deeper shade of black with each passing day.
Perry Mugford of Happy Valley Goose-Bay says his wife, Willamina Mugford, won't get surgery until June 2 — nine days after her arm was broken.
"It is very painful. She can't lie down. She's only [sitting] up. She's been sleeping in a chair since Saturday night," Mugford told CBC News from Conception Bay South.
Willamina Mugford was only given a sling for her arm and she's using ice packs and some prescribed painkillers to ease the struggle.
"She don't even have enough now to hold over till Monday," Perry Mugford said.
The couple is staying in C.B.S. with a friend while they wait for the surgery at the Health Science Centre, but getting the surgery scheduled became an additional strain on the situation.
Sent to St. John's
Perry Mugford said his wife had an accident in their backyard on Saturday. They visited their local emergency room that day.
Willamina Mugford was examined, and the doctor told them it was likely a pulled muscle in her upper arm. An X-ray was scheduled for that Monday, which is when the couple found out there was a break just below the shoulder. They were told she needed to go to St. John's for surgery and she got on a plane that evening.
At the Health Sciences Centre, Willamina Mugford was told she needed to get a CT scan first, something Perry Mugford said could have been done in Labrador.
"She had the CT, was told to go and wait for a call from the surgeon. So it's fine. So she left to come back up to C.B.S. All day Tuesday, no phone calls," he said.
On Wednesday morning they went back to the hospital only to be told Willamina was not in the system and not scheduled for surgery.
Perry Mugford said they've been given no explanation as to why she wasn't in the system, but he immediately started calling politicians and was in touch with the Department of Health and Community Services, Labrador Affairs and their MHA.
He said he isn't sure if it helped or not, but on Thursday morning the surgery had finally been scheduled — for Monday.
"We want her at the operating table, not at the complaints table," he said.
"Somewhere, something was dropped, and from saying 'everything was in place, good to go' to 'nothing in place, nothing's good to go,' something happened somewhere along the line."
He added if they knew they'd be waiting days for surgery in St. John's, they wouldn't have rushed down from Labrador.
"Yes, we're up in the North, yes, and the main health centres are in St. John's and we fully understand that. But when somebody tells you everything is in place, we got to take their word for it," he said.
The health authority sent an emailed statement Friday afternoon.
"Patients are booked for surgeries based on physician assessment and are triaged by surgeons based on multiple patient factors," NLHS communications director Jeanette O'Keefe wrote. "For privacy reasons, N.L. Health Services is unable to publicly discuss any specifics regarding an individual patient case or speak to the incident described."