Manitoba government denies allegations in lawsuit involving woman's COVID-19 death

The Manitoba government is denying allegations that it caused injury or damage to a 31-year-old mother of two who had COVID-19 and died while waiting to be transferred to an Ontario hospital.

Krystal Mousseau, from Ebb and Flow First Nation in western Manitoba, died on May 25, 2021, after her health deteriorated during an ambulance ride from the Brandon Regional Health Centre to the Brandon airport.

Krystal was on a ventilator and put in a medically induced coma prior to her transfer, but then went into cardiac arrest and was taken back to the Brandon hospital where she had another heart attack, went into shock and suffered multisystem organ failure, according to a statement of claim filed in 2023 by her mother, Elaine Mousseau.

Elaine Mousseau is suing the government of Manitoba, Shared Health (the provincial organization that oversees the delivery of health care in the province), the Prairie Mountain Health Authority (which includes the City of Brandon), the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Keewatin Air, an unidentified ICU nurse and two unidentified Keewatin Air employees who were sent as a medical team to transfer Krystal using ground and air ambulance.

She claims that bad planning and decisions, combined with a lack of the necessary medical equipment and properly trained staff, caused her daughter's death.

At the time of Krystal Mousseau's death, Manitoba's intensive care units were at capacity, with at least 10 new COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care every day, Manitoba's chief medical examiner has previously said.

In a statement of defence filed in June, the province said it "denies having violated Krystal Mousseau's right to life, liberty and security" and that all of its decisions and actions at that time were made in accordance with the relevant statutory responsibilities and powers.

The province admitted that the number of critical care beds in Manitoba was reduced in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a policy decision that was "based on recommendations made by experts" and intended to improve Manitoba's Adult Critical Care Program, the statement of defence said.

From 1986 to 2019, Manitoba operated a provincial air ambulance known as Lifeflight until it entered into a management agreement with Shared Health in October 2020, which transferred the responsibility for all air ambulance services onto the provincial health agency.

"Manitoba says that its decision to privatize air ambulance services in Manitoba was a policy decision based upon consideration of a variety of social, financial and policy considerations, and was not arbitrary," the statement of defence reads in part.

The government of Manitoba is asking that the claim against it be dismissed, arguing that "it committed no act or omission that was a cause of any injury or damage to the plaintiff."

The province argues that Manitoba law, specifically the Health System Governance and Accountability Act, applies to broader public interest and does not "create a duty of care to any particular individual." 

In separate statements of defence filed last year, Shared Health, Prairie Mountain Health, the Brandon Regional Health Centre and Keewatin Air also argue they did not breach their duty of care when treating Krystal.

None of the allegations made in the statement of claim have been proven in court.