The Calgary Health Region is defending its decision to deny the transfer of a frail Saskatchewan patient to one of its hospitals for specialized care.

Both the man's family and his frustrated doctor say the health system failed Jack Hintz, 85, who died last month, but the region said its hospitals were simply too full.

Jack Hintz, who is from Leader, Sask., died in a Medicine Hat, Alta., hospital after breaking his hip and suffering a heart attack. His doctor wanted to transfer him to a Calgary hospital.
(Family photo)

"It's hard enough seeing your parent in that condition and [your] hands are tied because you know, somebody wouldn't take him," Doreen Miskiw, Hintz's daughter, said to CBC News Wednesday from her home in Leader, Sask.

On Feb. 21, Hintz fell and broke his hip at his home in the small Saskatchewan town. He was taken to the regional hospital in Medicine Hat, Alta., about 160 kilometres southwest of Leader.

There, doctors realized Hintz had also suffered a heart attack. They decided transferring him to a specialist at a larger facility in Calgary would provide the best prognosis, considering his high-risk condition.

Dr. Alison Cameron, a general practitioner in Medicine Hat, said she found a hospital bed and a surgeon who agreed to treat Hintz, but as she was arranging an air ambulance for the 280 kilometre trip southeast, the Calgary Health Region said it couldn't take Hintz because he was from Saskatchewan.

"I would have understood if there wasn't a bed available and they simply couldn't take him, but to not take him because he's from Saskatchewan, that was ridiculous," she said.

Calgary health officials refused requests by CBC News for an interview but issued a news release late Wednesday afternoon.

'I would have understood if there wasn't a bed available and they simply couldn't take him, but to not take him because he's from Saskatchewan, that was ridiculous.'— Dr. Alison Cameron

The region said it could not safely accept any patient transfers because its three adult hospitals were over capacity, with long waits in the emergency departments and a high number of patients already waiting for hospital beds.

The release said Calgary health officials recommended instead that Hintz be sent to a hospital in Saskatchewan because it was "the most efficient way for the patient to receive the fastest possible medical treatment."

Hintz died the next day in the Medicine Hat hospital. Cameron said that she's not sure if the transfer would have saved the elderly man, but that the Calgary Health Region's refusal was so unusual, she wants it investigated so it doesn't happen again.

Patient's family feels let down

Saskatchewan Health Minister Don McMorris said his department is looking into the case.

"We're certainly looking forward to the Ministry of Health from Alberta looking into it and finding out if there was any problems with miscommunication or just all the information around this issue," he said.

Miskiw said it shouldn't have mattered where her father was from, especially since the Canada Health Act guarantees medical care to citizens anywhere in the country.

"I really do feel the system has failed us," she said.