Witnesses were outraged after staff at Saskatoon City Hospital insisted upon phoning an ambulance for an unresponsive patient discovered outside the hospital’s emergency room doors.

Ken Olson, a Saskatoon contractor, was on his way to a meeting Monday morning when he noticed a man in a hospital gown lying on his back “less than 10 feet” from the entrance to the ER.

“I parked and ran in through the emergency doors and said, ‘You’ve got someone in hospital clothing outside your doors unconscious,’ ” he said.

Olson said he was stunned when staff responded by phoning 911 for an ambulance. He says they told him policy prevents hospital staff from attending to patients found on the grounds.

“When something happens to an individual on our grounds, it is our policy that we do call 911,” said Patti Simonar, director of emergency and critical-care services for the Saskatoon Health Region. “And in this instance, it would seem that policy was followed.”

Simonar said the incident occurred Monday at about 9:10 a.m., but declined to comment on specifics.

She said the health region’s policy is based on concerns regarding patient and staff safety as well as the availability of medical equipment.

“We don’t always know what’s wrong with the patient, we don’t always know if it would be safe for our staff and our medical equipment is not mobilized,” she said.

Read full article: Vancouver Sun