Patient stranded in Mexico finds bed

LONDON, ONT. • There were no beds anywhere in Southwestern Ontario — until a desperate push found one, nearly 200 kilometres from home, for a London patient marooned in a Mexican hospital.

In the meantime, plenty of finger-pointing over who’s to blame. And, a frustrated family that insists there was no help from the government.

The fight to bring home 71- year- old Stuart Cline hit the floor of the Ontario legislature Wednesday, erupting around a rookie health minister as his frantic family and a London MPP pressed for help. But with many hospitals, including London Health Sciences Centre, running near full capacity or beyond, there was no immediate relief for Stuart Cline.

Not until late Wednesday was a bed found — in St. Catharines — for the retiree, his daughter-in-law said.

“I just want to make very, very, very clear, this is not help from the government. They haven’t even contacted me,” said Alejandra Cline, who was with Cline in Mexico. The arrangements to get him to St. Catharines were made through an insurance company after a family member spoke to a doctor in that city.

Hours earlier, when confronted with the man’s plight, Health Minister Helena Jaczek pointed to the private insurance companies many travellers rely on for out- of- country coverage, saying it’s up to them to work with the system when patients need to be brought back.

“We have reminded insurers what they need to do in terms of finding the appropriate capacity here in Ontario,” said Jaczek. “It is their responsibility to work with Ontario’s system of hospitals. It’s not a matter of just calling one single hospital to find the appropriate capacity. … There are beds in Ontario for these individuals,” said Jaczek, only three days into her new post in the Liberal government.

One week after he collapsed in Mexico, Cline was fading fast, his family says. The 71- year- old survived a fall that burst blood vessels in his brain last Wednesday. He had surgery to drain the blood and on Saturday, Mexican doctors stabilized him enough to withstand a flight to Canada. But four days later, Cline was still in Mexico and his family grew desperate.

Alejandra Cline, who had called the ordeal “unbelievable,” said her father- in- law was expected to arrive in St. Catharines Thursday morning.

Cline is far from the first Ontarian with medical needs stranded abroad.

David Ronald was badly hurt in Costa Rica earlier this month and unable to return home to Hamilton because of capacity issues in his local hospital.

Only two weeks ago, Elgin- Middlesex- London MPP Jeff Yurek stepped in to help one of his constituents who needed a blood transfusion while on vacation in the Dominican Republic.