Overcoming is a series of stories about our patients and their remarkable healthcare journeys.
Kate Bezanson is feeling good after a recent trip to the Emergency Department (ED) helped her to get her health back on track.
And for that, the St. Catharines resident and Brock University sociology professor is grateful.
“I had an incredibly positive experience,” Bezanson says. “My reflections following my experience were, ‘I presented with exactly what emergency rooms are supposed to do.’”
The path to the Marotta Family Hospital Emergency Department in early January began on Christmas Eve, when Bezanson developed symptoms of a urinary tract infection. With her family doctor’s office closed for the holidays and walk-in clinic hours limited, she considered her options and went to her local pharmacy. In Ontario, pharmacists are authorized to prescribe medication to treat certain uncomplicated conditions, including UTIs.
The prescription she was given resolved her symptoms. Two weeks later, however, they returned. Adding to the challenge, they came back on a weekend.
Kate Bezanson.
Know your healthcare options. Niagara is home to a variety of healthcare providers and services available to you.
Knowing her doctor’s office was closed, Bezanson returned to the pharmacy. Because symptoms returned so soon after her initial consultation with her pharmacist, Bezanson needed to be seen by a physician.
She planned to visit a walk-in clinic, but her condition rapidly worsened. She began vomiting, developed a fever, experienced intense flank pain and had difficulty walking. Bezanson worried she had a kidney infection or sepsis.
That’s when she decided to go to the ED.
“I knew neither of these are good,” she says. “I was fine and then I absolutely wasn’t.”
At the hospital, Bezanson says she was triaged quickly. Members of the ED team checked on her in the waiting room and again when she moved into a second waiting area within the emergency department before undergoing tests and treatment.
Bezanson was offered pain relief after her initial assessment by a physician. Blood work and other diagnostic tests were also ordered.
“Once blood work ruled out the potential for sepsis, there was a slowing of the process, which is to be expected,” Bezanson says.
A CT scan followed, with timely results showing her condition wasn’t life-threatening. She received intravenous antibiotics and fluids while waiting for next steps from the doctor.
Four hours after walking into the hospital, Bezanson was discharged with clear instructions to treat a recurring UTI, a prescription and follow-up guidance.
“The information I got was totally understandable for any audience. It was clear and efficient and I left,” she recalls. “I have a deep sense of gratitude for the care I received. It was prompt and efficient and I am back to normal.”
Niagara Health ED physicians are happy to help.
“We are always here for you in your time of emergent medical needs,” says Dr. Rafi Setrak, Emergency Physician and Regional Chief of Emergency Medicine. “We are happy Kate is doing well.”
Her experience, Bezanson says, reflects how emergency departments are designed to function: to care for people experiencing acute conditions.
Bezanson notes she’s mindful of how public discourse around emergency healthcare is often shaped by news stories of long waits and hallway medicine. Those experiences, she adds, are frequently linked to gaps elsewhere, such as in social-support systems, putting pressure on hospital emergency departments to fill those voids.
But that shouldn’t stop people from seeking the care they need when they need it, she says.
“We need people to go when they need care, even if there are struggles within the system,” Bezanson says. “Otherwise, we end up with worse health outcomes.”
