‘He wanted treatment, not your fancy items’: Wife of Edmonton man who died in ER speaks out; Alberta orders probe
Posted December 27, 2025 11:21 am.
Last Updated December 29, 2025 9:24 am.
The Alberta government has ordered a review after a 44-year-old man died of an apparent cardiac arrest while waiting in an emergency department in Edmonton on Monday, after his wife spoke out and called for investigation.
Minister of hospital and surgical health services Matt Jones, in a social media post, says he has directed Acute Care Alberta and Covenant Health to jointly review the circumstances and factors leading to the death of Prashanth Sreekumar at Grey Nuns Community Hospital last Monday.
Sreekumar, who was experiencing chest pain, died after allegedly waiting nearly eight hours to see a doctor at the ER.
According to Sreekumar’s wife, Niharika, while his vitals were stable in the initial assessments, Sreekumar had unbearable pains from what the couple believed to be a heart issue.
“When somebody’s life is in danger, we’re not looking for a queen-size bed, (nor) are we looking for the luxurious equipment around it. We are looking for a basic stretcher. God damn, if you don’t have a stretcher, just take a bedsheet from nowhere, put it down on the floor, lay him down, and give him treatment. He wanted treatment, not your fancy items,” Niharika said.
A client from work with whom Sreekumar was meeting, had driven him to the Grey Nuns hospital after the father of three children — aged three, 10, and 14 — complained of severe chest pain.
A spokesperson for Covenant Health declined to discuss the specifics of the case but issued a statement.
“We are deeply saddened regarding the death of a 44-year-old male patient at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton on December 22, 2025. We offer our sympathy to the patient’s family and friends. There is nothing more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff,” said Karen Macmillan, chief operating officer, acute and primary care (interim).
Acute Care Alberta, a new provincial health agency, says it will participate in the review and implement any recommendations, and it says the office of the chief medical examiner has begun an independent investigation.
The announcement comes after Niharika spoke out about the tragic incident and called for changes to the taxpayer-funded healthcare system.
“(Sreekumar) paid for 25 years into the system, into the tax bucket, and guess what, one time in 25 years that he needed it for himself, he was denied,” she said.
The family says all options were on the table as they met with the lawyers.
While the investigation goes on, Niharika says she is left to figure out how to support the family with her youngest child requiring constant care. Sreekumar had been the family’s sole source of income.
A family friend has set up a fundraiser for Sreekumar’s family to support them with ongoing needs.
In a GoFundMe fundraiser, the family has called for a transparent investigation and accountability.
— With files from The Canadian Press
