Ambulances are parked at the entrance to an emergency department in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck
The family of a 16-year-old teen who died after waiting more than eight hours in a crowded Oakville, Ont., emergency room is suing hospital officials over his treatment.
Finlay van der Werken’s family is suing Halton Healthcare Services Corporation, along with 13 other defendants including seven doctors, alleging the teen died of a treatable medical condition.
The family says Finlay suffered a medical crisis in February 2024. After being rushed to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH), he waited more than eight hours in the ER before dying just over 24 hours later. The family says doctors later told them that earlier treatment might have prevented his death.
The lawsuit, filed by five plaintiffs, including Finlay’s parents, alleges that he wasn’t properly treated or monitored and asks for $1.3 million in damages.
According to his family, Finlay had a migraine that rapidly worsened, leading to his mother Hazel driving him to the emergency department at OTMH. She informed staff of her son’s intense pain, but hospital records show despite Finlay’s being triaged at 10 p.m., a doctor didn’t see him until 6:22 a.m. the following morning, according to the family.
Finlay was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia, with the doctor warning that “acute deterioration” was occurring. He went into cardiac arrest while being transferred to Toronto’s SickKids Hospital. At SickKids, van der Werken was put on life support but went into organ failure, at which point his parents made the decision to remove him from life support.
Hazel van der Werken said that at a meeting with hospital staff, they didn’t admit to doing anything wrong but acknowledged Finlay’s outcome might have been different with earlier treatment.
Meghan Walker, the lawyer representing the family, said Finlay had a Level 2 assessment on the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, which means he should be examined by a doctor within 15 minutes. He wasn’t assessed for more than eight hours.
“We are profoundly moved by the outpouring of public support and remain steadfast in our pursuit of accountability and systemic change,” Walker said in a July 29 email to The Epoch Times.
Halton Healthcare executive vice president of Clinical Operations and chief nursing officer Cheryl Williams said in a July 29 email to The Epoch Times that “we extend our deepest condolences to the van der Werken family on the tragic loss of Finlay,” but that “Halton Healthcare does not comment on individual patient cases in order to respect patient privacy, confidentiality, and legal requirements.”
Halton Healthcare has been facing “more patients presenting with increasingly complex health conditions and co-morbidities, often requiring longer stays and more intensive care,” said Williams. “This places significant demand on our emergency departments, patient flow, bed availability and the patient experience.”
She said a Halton Healthcare Emergency Department working group is looking at ways to improve patient outcomes.
