Woman Spends 20 Hours in ER Before Discovering She Needs Emergency Surgery

On July 3, 2025, Lori Stetina woke up feeling pretty unwell. Realizing she needed urgent medical attention, she called 911 and an ambulance was dispatched to take her to Winnipeg’s Grace Hospital.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find herself sitting upright in the back of the ambulance instead of lying down on a stretcher.

As she entered the E.R., she was greeted by a long line of patients, including many elderly patients lined up against the wall.

Lori ended up waiting more than 20 hours before finally seeing a doctor, and it wasn’t until around 5 a.m. the next morning that she was seen.

She recalls feeling scared for her life during that long wait.

Once she was finally admitted, doctors diagnosed her with a mild heart attack.

They ordered blood tests, a couple of EKGs, and a CT scan. Unfortunately, the results of the scan brought even more bad news.

Lori found herself surrounded by two doctors in operating room gear who told her she needed emergency surgery, though she had no idea why at first.

At the time, she had to quickly end a call to her husband because the doctors had to take her for emergency surgery.

What Lori didn’t realize at the time was that her bowel had perforated and leaked into her stomach.

When she finally woke up from surgery, she had 19 staples on her stomach. She describes the whole experience as one she wishes she could forget and says she couldn’t believe how long she had to wait for help in the E.R.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority issued a statement acknowledging the difficulties faced by both patients and staff in city emergency rooms.

They assured the public that they will keep collaborating with system partners to improve patient flow and work toward reducing wait times.

They also mentioned that hospitals have started implementing new measures, such as discharging patients on weekends, to help patients go home sooner and to free up beds for others in need.

However, despite these efforts, long wait times have persisted into this week. On Wednesday afternoon, the WRHA website indicated that ER wait times across the city were over 10 hours.

Dr. Noam Katz, an E.R. doctor at St. Boniface Hospital, noted that wait times have “ballooned significantly” in recent days.

He added that many days are marked by extremely long waits, making it difficult for hospitals to provide patients with the quality of care they deserve.