A 23-year-old woman with a severe eating disorder is upset that she has to spend six days in Sherbrooke Psychiatric Emergency alongside other psychotic, crisis or violent patients.
“There are people who come in in an aggressive, violent state. They start screaming. The assistants and the nurses do what they can, but it's stressful. It increases your anxiety level. You don't necessarily feel safe,” summarizes Sabrina Gagne, at the Hôtel-Dieu in Sherbrooke. He was on the phone in his room.
The young woman, who has struggled with severe anorexia since the age of 15, has unfortunately become accustomed to psychiatric stays.
Sabrina Gagne, who is 5'5″ and weighs 80 pounds, had reached a critical threshold for her health. So, she says, she presented herself to a psychiatric emergency room on the morning of Monday, January 15th.
Quick support?
This time, the psychiatrist who follows her assures her that she is expected at the hospital, her mother swears.
“We said to ourselves: 'At least she'll be taken care of!' Melanie underlines Rodrigue, who cares about her daughter, and this is what shocks me the most. […] People need to know what's going on in psychiatry.
However, he was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, January 20 at 9pm on a floor. For six days, he waited in the emergency room with several unstable patients.
“I was really at the end of my rope, and some people waited a long time. It was encouraging. Some people were upset, they wanted to leave,” he says. “The world doesn't want to stay, so we see them tied to the bed.”
Stories abound of patients leaving untreated for psychiatric emergencies. Amelie Champagne's death was also the subject of a public inquest.
She couldn't do anything because her cell phone was lost. A common room has a few tables and chairs, but patients must sleep “on their backs” on stretchers or on small makeshift beds.
Sleep while you wait
“There are people who sleep more during the day. Nothing, you wait… you don't even know what you are waiting for,” she says.
During these six days, Sabrina Gagne says she was transferred to the physical emergency room on a stretcher for two days because there were too many patients before returning to the psychiatric emergency room.
Despite everything, she didn't blame the staff.
“The staff are doing their best, but it's ridiculous, it's not the climate we want to be in. It makes me want to go back to racing at home.
As of this week, Sabrina Gagne has not actually started treatment and has been seen by various doctors in the emergency room.
“Every day I asked: 'Will there be a place soon?' They're drowning and they don't know it…” she whispers.
Established in a room for a week, the young patient begins to find his bearings and feel better. She doesn't know how long she will be hospitalized, but expects to be there for several weeks.
Courtesy Sabrina Gagne
Finally have a dream
As for the future, Sabrina Gagne has successfully overcome her eating disorder and contemplates a possible career.
“I want to be good enough that I can have a dream. At the moment, it's so vague, it's hard to find hope,” says the woman who works in the hotel industry.
According to Ministry of Health and Social Services standards, the average wait time for a stretcher in emergency rooms should not exceed 24 hours. However, many hospitals fall short of the target, and in psychiatry it takes too long.
For its part, Estrie's Center for Integrated Health and Social Services (CISSS) responded that the emergency room is overcrowded and the priority of beds is being re-evaluated based on the condition of patients. Since 2020, length of stay has increased as patients have more complex medical profiles.
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