After Youth’s Death Following 8-Hour ER Wait, Family Calls for Inquest and Law Reform

An Ontario family is asking for an inquest and calling on the province to set limitations on emergency room wait times for children, after their son died following an eight-hour wait last year.
GJ and Hazel van der Werken, of Burlington, Ont., said their 16-year-old son, Finlay, was taken to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital on Feb. 7, 2024, after suffering with a mild illness that got worse.
Finlay’s mother told the media that the emergency room was “filled with a lot of people.”
She said her son was “calling out in pain.” He was quickly triaged as a “level 2 patient,” which indicated he required urgent care, but was left waiting for eight hours and 22 minutes, Hazel van der Werken said….