Man medevaced to Whitehorse had nowhere to go after hospital discharged him

A man from Pelly Crossing, Yukon, wants the Whitehorse General Hospital to do better when discharging rural patients who arrive by medevac.

Last week, Mike Dobson was feeling unwell so he went to his local health centre in Pelly Crossing. After initial assessments there, he was flown to the hospital in Whitehorse, 284 kilometres away. He says it was a "heart issue." 

Dobson spoke to CBC News from the Whitehorse hospital lobby while waiting for his girlfriend to drive from Pelly to pick him up. He said it was after 1 a.m. when all the necessary tests were done and he was told to leave. 

"They decided it was time for me to be discharged. They were like, 'Well, you can either get a hotel room at your own cost or we can pay for a taxi to take you to the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter,'" said Dobson. 

Neither option seemed viable, particularly since he's been clean and sober for a decade, he said.

"I don't have money to pay for a hotel room out of my pocket, and the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter is ridden with drugs. I have family members who passed away there. It's not something that's conducive to a healthy lifestyle," he said.

Dobson says he pleaded his case to stay the night at the hospital. 

"The charge nurse came back and she was talking in a very condescending tone towards me, saying, 'well, we'll make a one-time exception for you, and you can stay in one of our isolation rooms,'" he recalled. 

Opposition politicians say a medical travel lodge for rural Yukoners in Whitehorse would help. It's something that the Liberal government promised in its 2021 campaign platform but there's been no action since. 

"The current government did commit to developing a medical travel lodge," said Yukon Party MLA Brad Cathers, noting there's been no update on that since last year when a unanimous motion from the NDP called again for a public health lodge. 

Cathers says he would also like to see a review of what supports are in place for rural Yukoners when receiving medical care in Whitehorse. 

NDP Leader Kate White told CBC News she's horrified by Dobson's story. 

"And this isn't new," she said. "Jim Tredger, who was MLA for Mayo-Tatchun, got a call one night when someone was medevaced in from Keno and then was released in the middle of the night with no shoes and no wallet." 

While the government has conducted surveys with rural Yukoners about medical travel, White notes there is still nothing in place for people like Dobson. 

"Coming in from a community, in medical distress, is not easy and it doesn't mean that you're prepared and that you have everything that you need — and it certainly doesn't mean that you have the money or the funds to get yourself a hotel room in the middle of the night," White said.

In a written statement to CBC News, Yukon Hospital Corporation spokesperson Jessica Apolloni said she couldn't talk about Dobson's specific case.

She also said the hospital does not have a written policy about discharging inpatients at night, though that's typically avoided "unless absolutely necessary." Many people medevaced to Whitehorse are admitted as inpatients, she said.

Emergency department patients are discharged as soon as they've been cared for, "which may occur at any hour," she said.

Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said she would speak to CBC News about the issue on Wednesday.