Winnipeg man waiting 10 days – and counting – for surgery after accident

A Winnipeg man is speaking out after he says he’s been waiting for over a week in hospital to receive surgery following an accident that sent him to the emergency room.

Daniel Cocci has been at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre since Aug. 18, waiting to receive surgery for a broken collarbone and ribs.

“I heard from a couple of nurses that they’re embarrassed. They told me that I’m still here. It’s embarrassing to them,” said Cocci.

“Every day I wait. I have to not drink anything, not eat anything and wait the whole day. And then at about 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., they’ll tell me, ‘no, it’s not happening today.’ And that happens every day.”

Cocci was riding his scooter on Aug. 18 when he stopped abruptly to avoid being hit by a car attempting to merge onto the street.

While Cocci did not make contact with the other vehicle, the stop caused him to fall off his scooter.

Since he was nearby, Cocci decided to go to the Manitoba Clinic to receive care, but the staff told him they wouldn’t be able to help.

“They couldn’t take any more patients, so they called an ambulance for me,” he explained.

That ambulance took Cocci to HSC the day of the accident, where he has been ever since.

Impact on mental health

Cocci works part time and believes he won’t be paid for his time away from work. But more than the financial pain, Cocci says the wait is having a significant impact on his mental health.

“I’m bipolar and I have depression also,” he told CityNews. “And so I don’t know. I’m sweating now and every day it’s just pushing more and more, my mental health is deteriorating. It’s worse than it already was.”

Cocci was finally told on Monday he would be able to undergo surgery, but Cocci is still waiting.

CityNews reached out to Shared Health for comment on Cocci’s situation but they said they cannot speak to a specific patient’s care.

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Advocates say the health-care system will continue to see more cases like Cocci’s if staffing isn’t addressed.

“The Manitoba Health Coalition has long been calling for a real strategic plan to be put in place to recruit the kind of health-care professionals that we need in this province. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that so far from this government. They’ve given us very loose plans with no deadlines, no timelines, no metrics for success or failure,” said Thomas Linner, the provincial director of Manitoba Health Coalition.

While he waits, Cocci doesn’t place the blame on staff at HSC and even says he understands that the health system is strained with patients with more serious cases than his to be dealt with.

“I think they need more staff. I can tell you that from what I see here in the time here, even with all that’s happening on the nurses, is unbelievable,” Cocci explained. “They’re pushed to the limits and I’m sure the doctors are, too.”