It’s noon on Thursday.
Traffic passes by oblivious to what’s playing out at the bus stop across from Royal Jubilee Hospital.
A woman sits, wrapped in hospital blankets, and in distress.
She’s been here for hours.
By her side is Julianna Nielsen who lives in the nearby apartment building.
Julianna Nielsen is pictured with the woman on Thursday morning. (CHEK News)
“Maybe 3, 3:30 in the morning I heard some noise outside. It woke me up so got up and saw someone here at the bus stop,” said Nielsen. “They seemed to be in a bit of distress. But it also appeared that they were getting some kind of air. I’m not sure that they were discharged.”
Hours later, the woman has not moved.
“I was taking meetings from home this morning, and was just about to head out to work, and that’s when I came over with some food and a blanket to keep her warm, and she disclosed that she was trying to get back into the hospital for continued care,” Nielsen told CHEK News on Thursday.
Island Health confirms the woman is still a patient – who wasn’t discharged on Thursday.
But Nielsen said the woman couldn’t move herself.
It’s a scene played out many times outside Nielsen’s apartment building.
She recorded this video Sunday night: a woman carried out to the same bus stop by a Island Health security guards as she screams for help.
On Thursday in Vancouver, B.C. Premier David Eby was asked about the videos taken by Nielsen, and others.
“These are deeply disturbing stories that we are hearing about people who have gone to the hospital for care, and are being left at bus stops in distress,” he said.
On Thursday, Island Health informed CHEK News that it’s reviewing the emergency department discharge process at Royal Jubilee, and it will eventually carry out an Island-wide review.
The premier said he supports any measures to prevent incidents like these from happening in the future.
“Our expectation is that the health authorities will continue their work looking into these, and addressing the issue to make sure that if there is an additional role the province needs to play in terms of supports for people who are being discharged, that we’re closing that loop and meeting the needs of people as best as possible,” Eby said.
An ambulance arrived Thursday to take the woman back to hospital.
Nielsen waited until the woman was safety in the ambulance before she headed to work.
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