By RAY SPITERI Niagara Falls Review Updated 4 hours ago
The death of his girlfriend was too much to bear.
Charlie Poisson recently quit his job in Niagara Falls and left for Hamilton, hoping to build a new life.
But when he heard the story of Doreen Wallace, the 82-year-old Niagara Falls woman who broke her hip after falling near the main entrance of Greater Niagara General Hospital Oct. 8, the horrific memories started to creep back into Poisson's mind.
"I'm reliving it all over again. I lost Jennifer in a very traumatic (manner)," he said.
"And then this happens (to Wallace). I was shocked. I thought, 'Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me.
"I went public with Jennifer's story in the hopes that something similar would not happen again."
Poisson's girlfriend, Jennifer James, died five days after she was admitted to GNGH in April.
Earlier this year, Poisson told The Niagara Falls Review he brought James, 39, by car to the hospital on April 21. Upon arrival, he ran into the main front doors and down the hall to the emergency department.
When he ran into the hospital, James said he told a staffer he needed help.
"'I've got my girlfriend who just had a heart attack. She's not breathing. She's in the parking lot right out there,'" he recalled himself saying at the time. "'Can I please a have a paramedic?'"
Poisson said he was told paramedics would be dispatched. After about three to five minutes, when no paramedics came, they brought James in by a wheelchair and she received care. Poisson said he was told the "policy was that we have to call an ambulance."
He was later told by doctors James had suffered a catastrophic heart event.
In July, Coun. Joyce Morocco's husband John went into GNGH seeking help for his barely conscious wife, who was in the parking lot. He said he was told to call an ambulance.
While the Morocco and James situations dealt with people in the parking lot, Wallace's incident happened inside the hospital.
Niagara Health System supervisor Kevin Smith said hospital staff should not have called an ambulance to deal with Wallace, noting ambulances don't do in-hospital transfers.
He said Wallace's injury should have prompted a staffer to call a code blue, which would have immediately deployed a team of medical staff to the situation.
Hospital staff attended to Wallace — who was visiting her dying husband at GNGH — but the woman's family said they were told an ambulance would have to be called to assist.
Her family claimed Wallace was left on the floor for 28 minutes before being admitted to the emergency department.
Smith said the failure on the hospital's part to learn from the two previous incidents is a management issue. Errors happen, he said, but when they happen on more than one occasion, there is a problem with process, structure, communication and accountability.
He committed to reviewing the situation and to ensure hospital staff at all NHS sites understand what to do when they see a patient in distress.
Poisson quit his job as general manager of a local car dealership after his girlfriend's death and is now selling vehicles in Hamilton. He comes back to the city every weekend to perform at the Americana Resort. He performs as a magician, under the name Charlie Tuna.
"I wanted to build my career in Niagara Falls. I fell in love with a woman there. But my life changed on April 21. I couldn't stay there anymore. It was just too painful."
Morocco said she is "embarrassed" by what happened to Wallace.
"At first, I thought, 'They can't be talking about our hospital. It must be a huge mistake.' But when it sunk in, I was appalled," she said. "What this poor woman had to deal with was wrong. As a person who experienced something similar at the hospital, I'm frustrated. As a councillor in this city, I'm embarrassed."
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