As anger among staff at St. Mary’s Hospital grows over the death of a patient, the director of the organization overseeing the hospital has spoken out.

Benoit Morin, director of general of the West Island Integrated Health Centre, said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

On Nov. 2, a man in his 70s walked into the ER, complaining of abdominal pain. He was evaluated, sat in the waiting room, but his condition deteriorated and he lost consciousness. After an ultrasound revealed a ruptured aortic aneurysm, he was sent to the MUHC where he died.

Hospital professionals who spoke with CTV Montreal maintain the experienced vascular surgeon who works at St. Mary's, Dr. Carl Emond, was ready to perform the surgery but he informed the ER staff he was no longer permitted by the administration to perform emergency surgery, which is why the patient was transferred.

He died before he could be helped, angering many staff at St. Mary's. The administration told CTV Wednesday they had indeed started discussions with key players at the hospital, including the surgeon in question, about their plan to begin sending all vascular surgery patients to tertiary or specialized centres like the MUHC.

Morin denied that those instructions were in fact in place on the day the patient required surgery.

“On Nov. 2, there was no written directive by the organization to Dr. Emond saying that service was no longer in effect,” said Morin. “There were discussions going on, there was a clear orientation we were going to modify the services, but on Nov. 2 there were no written notices that were issued… At that time the physicians’ privileges were not revoked in any way shape or form, they are still full-fledged right now and there was no written notice that the organization was moving towards a different service. So at that time there was no directive preventing an intervention from the surgeon.”

CTV Montreal sought to speak with Dr. Emond Tuesday, but were referred to public relations.

The incident is now being reviewed first by a committee of professionals at St Mary's called the Morbidity and Mortality Committee and their report will move up the administrative chain.

The College des Medecins informed CTV Montreal they were told they were following the story in the media and were gathering information, but had made no decisions so far about whether they will investigate how the patient's case was handled.

The staff is also expressing grave concern about what they see as the chipping away of services at St. Mary's. They worry the hospital is being dismantled.

Morin said he wanted to reassure hospital staff who say services are being chipped away that St. Mary’s will continue to provide services for years to come. Staff said they worry the hospital is being dismantled.

“Well there are absolutely no plans to change the mission of St. Mary's Hospital. For 90 years it's been offering the best care to the community. It continues to do so and it will remain so for many years to come,” he said.

Morin added, however, that there would be changes to come.