A Milwaukee woman went to the ER with chest pain and shortness of breath but she left in order to seek medical attention at urgent care after waiting for hours at the ER. However, before even getting inside the urgent care center, she collapsed and died near her car.
25-year-old Tashonna Ward arrived at Froedtert Hospital’s ER with her sister at 4:58 p.m. on January 2, as per a Milwaukee County medical examiner’s report.
She visited the ER for complaints of chest pain. She had an enlarged heart after undergoing multiple tests and an X-ray, according to the report. She was then asked to wait in a room for further medical assistance.
Tashonna’s cousin, Andrea Ward, told the newspaper, “How can you triage someone with shortness of breath and chest pain and stick them in the lobby?”
She took to her Facebook account to complain about how crowded the ER was. In another post, she ridiculed the ER for making her wait for hours even after having potentially life-threatening symptoms such as chest pain and breathlessness.
She wrote, “I been here since 4:30 something for shortness of breath, and chest pains for them to just say it’s a two to SIX-hour wait to see a dr. Like that is really f*****g ridiculous.”
The medical examiner’s report said Ward left the ER around 7:30 p.m. because she “felt she was waiting too long and decided to go to an Urgent Care.” After waiting for more than 2 hours, she decided to seek medical attention somewhere else.
The ER staffed called her up on her cellphone an hour after she left to check on her. Ward’s sister informed the staff that she had collapsed near her car outside the urgent care center.
She was taken to Froedtert Hospital, where she was declared dead just before 11 p.m.
Froedtert Hospital has declined to comment because of patient privacy laws; however, it extended condolences to Ward’s family.
“We respect their wishes and privacy during this difficult time,” the hospital said. “They continue to be in our thoughts and have our deepest sympathy.”
