Woman wonders if painful wait for facial abscess removal stemmed from Manitoba doctor shortage

WARNING: The following story includes images and descriptionof a medical condition.

A Winnipeg woman whose golf-ball sized facial abscess burst while waiting for help during anemergency room visit questionswhether Manitoba's doctor shortage played a role in her struggle to accesstimely care.

On Oct. 24, worsening pain from a abscess that "looked like a balloon" drove Rhonda Powersto seek care at an ERfor the third time. Twelvehours into waiting, the growth popped and she was thenseen by an expert something she was previously toldwould take seven weeks.

"I don't think I could've stood it any longer,"saidPowers, 63.

"I'm not a vain woman, but people could see what was wrong or see my face getting bigger and redder, and the pain ...it felt as if my face was on fire."

Powers said she filed twoformal complaints with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authorityabout a week after the abscess burst.

Now healing, Powers questions whether the months she waitedto see a specialist, and the hours-long waitsin Winnipeg ERs, aresymptoms of a broader doctor shortage in Manitoba.

Canadian Institute for Health Information data released this week suggests Manitoba has 215 doctors per 100,00 residents the second lowest rate in the country and far below the national average of 247.

Doctors Manitoba president Michael Boroditsky lamented the shortage at the time, saying his "biggest concern" isthe possibility thatpatients who need care aren't getting it in a timely manner.

Powers said her abscess neededcare sooner, and she waited unnecessarily long.

"I was in so much pain all I wanted to do was just lie down," Powers toldInformation Radiohost Marcy Markusaon Thursday.

"I was depressed, I still am depressed."

Information Radio - MB18:18Winnipegger forced to go to an ER three times only to be turned away saying she needed to wait for a specialist, which resulted in complications

Rhonda Powers tells host Marcy Markusa that after an ER doctor recommended she get treatment right away, she was forced to wait for several weeks to see a specialist have an abscess removed, which resulted in complications.

Powersfirst went to the Grace Hospital emergency room onAug. 22, and she said her family doctorhad notified hospital staff of her condition.

She received a CT scan there showingshe had a blocked salivary gland. Powers said a doctorwanted to remove it at that time.

But the on-callspecialist disagreed, said Powers. Instead, she was given Tylenol 3 andantibiotics and sent home.

Not long after that visit,she received a letter from the specialist with an appointment date for late Octoberaround seven weeks away.

She was soon taking half a dozen Tylenol 3s daily for pain. Her family doctor was growing more concerned, said Powers.

"All I could do was wait and when it got bad I would call [the specialist's] office and ... voicemail just told me to go to the ER."

'It was dreadful': Powers

Powerswent back to the Grace HospitalER again whereastaff member prescribed her more Tylenol 3s and antibiotics and sent her home.

"It was dreadful,I couldn't do anything," she said. "It was turning into a nightmare."

Powers was just days away from the specialist'sappointment date when the pain became too much to bear.

On Oct. 24, sheattended St. Boniface Hospital emergency room herthird ER visit for the abscess since late August.

As she waited, the bulging growth "broke through my face," said Powers. A doctor at the hospital told her to cancel her coming appointment with the specialist and told her"we're going to take care of you from now on," she said.

The doctor pushed out fluid and out popped a popcorn kernel-sized stone-like object. Powers took it home in a pill bottle.

This week, she filed one complaint with the WRHAaddressed tothe specialist she was initially assigned to see,and another directed at astaff member there.

In an email statement, a WRHA spokesperson said they "cannot comment on an individual patient situation due to privacy concerns," and added thatpatients who experience issues should reach out to patient relations.

Powers lauded the care she received from her family doctor and others at the emergency rooms she attended.

Stay 'optimistic': Health minister

She is optimistic the NDPwill make good oncampaign promises to fix the health-care system, but Powersacknowledges thenewly-minted government ministershave their work cut out for them.

"I would ask her and for others to hold on to that optimism," saidHealth Minister Uzoma Asagwara.

"She had an experience that was unfortunately negative for her in many ways, and yet she still has the courage and capacity to share her experience in the hope that it will improve health care for other people. That is a very Manitoban thing to do."

Asagwaracommended Powers foravailing herself of the complaints system and other processes available to patients.

"Oftentimes the ways in which we improve the system and address issues in the system is after we've heard from people who have hadinappropriate or unacceptable experiences," they said.

"This power of speaking up provides an opportunity for health-care providers to take a look at what happened and see where things can be improved, so that in the future if anyone else presents with a similar situation, that they get the kind of care that they expect."