2nd person says Yellowknife hospital failed to treat lung infection
'I was afraid for my life,' says Jerry Lennie
Another person has come forward saying Northwest Territories' health providers failed to properly diagnose him.
Jerry Lennie, 57, says he flew from Norman Wells to Yellowknife to get antibiotics for a lung infection.
"I had a lot of chest pain on my right side," Lennie said. "It was though somebody had two meat hooks in my chest."
But according to Lennie, a nurse at Stanton Territorial Hospital told him he had contracted a virus, not a bacterial infection, and he didn't need antibiotics.
"I walked out of there really discouraged," Lennie said. "I was afraid for my life."
This comes after a 33-year-old Yellowknife man, Michael Francois, died Saturday from a bacterial lung infection. His sister said the infection was not properly diagnosed until her brother's third visit to a territorial health facility.
Lennie travelled back to the Sahtu, but his infection persisted. He says he went to Tulita's health centre and convinced staff to prescribe him antibiotics for an unrelated abscess in his mouth.
He says it worked — his lungs cleared.
Lennie admits there's no proof that he had a bacterial infection, but says he was convinced antibiotics would clear his lungs, because he says they worked the last time he had similar symptoms.
While it's possible Lennie simply had a virus that ran its course, he says either way he didn't get the care he needed, and he feels lucky that his symptoms have cleared up.
But he's saddened that Francois was not prescribed antibiotics in time to save his life.
"Nobody wants to take the responsibility of what happened here," Lennie said. "You have the facility there that could cure that person, yet it turned him away."
Vaccine available
The Northwest Territories' chief medical officer, Dr. Andre Corriveau, will not speak to individual cases, but he did say bacterial infections are often contracted after a cold or flu, and young children and the elderly are most commonly affected.
"For a while your immune system is suppressed," Corriveau said. "You become vulnerable to other forms of illness."
Corriveau says people concerned about contracting a bacteria or virus that can infect their lungs should ask their medical provider about a pneumonia vaccine, which is available throughout the territory's health centres and can be administered with the annual flu shot.