The Alberta government ordered a review after A 44-year-old man died while waiting to see a doctor in an Edmonton hospital emergency room earlier this week.
Health Minister Matt Jones said in a social media post that he has directed Acute Care Alberta and Covenant Health to jointly review the circumstances surrounding the death of Prashanth Sreekumar at Gray Nuns Community Hospital on Monday.
Sreekumar, an accountant and father of three, went to the emergency room with chest pain.
A family friend says he waited nearly eight hours before going into apparent cardiac arrest.
“It was completely avoidable. That's the saddest thing,” Varinder Bhuller, a close family friend, said in a telephone interview. “Sometimes we think it's God's will, but this time I think people could have intervened and saved him.”
Buller said Sreekumar was in his office when the pain began and a client took him to the hospital. Initial tests revealed nothing abnormal, but his blood pressure continued to rise, Buller said.
Premier Danielle Smith offered her condolences to the family in a social media post, saying there would be a “full review of this matter.”
Acute Care Alberta, the province's new health authority, confirmed it will participate in the review and implement any recommendations.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has also launched an independent investigation.
In a joint statement, Alberta NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman and Edmonton Meadows MP Jasvir Deol called the death a “horrible tragedy” and renewed calls for improved hospital staffing and greater investment in public health.
Receive weekly health news
Get the latest medical news and health information every Sunday.
“Albertans deserve timely and appropriate care when they present to emergency departments,” the statement said.
Prashant suffered for hours in severe pain while waiting in the emergency room, his wife Niharika Sreekumar said.
“You immediately beg for your life,” Niharika told Global News on Saturday. “And you're asking someone with power to do this. It was the most disgusting feeling of my life.”
She said she was at home with her children when she learned that her husband was hospitalized.
“We were texting each other about what was going on,” she said. “They said the EKG came in and he was waiting for a blood test.”
Later, she said, her husband called her while he was still in the waiting room.
“He called me with a shaking voice, unable to speak,” she said. “He said, 'I'm in a lot of pain.'
She rushed to the hospital with one of the children and found her husband still waiting.
“He was in so much pain,” she said. “We kept going there and saying, 'He has chest pain. Something's wrong.'”
Sreekumar's wife said her husband was healthy and active, often played cricket, and had no warning signs before the incident.
“He was very healthy. He exercised. He ate healthy,” she said. “It just doesn't make sense.”
She also spoke out against online speculation following his death.
“Prashant was a Canadian citizen,” she said. “Twenty-five years in this country. He loved Canada.”
Buller said Sreekumar was the family's sole breadwinner while Niharika stayed home to look after one of her special needs children.
A GoFundMe fundraiser started by Sreekumar's student has already raised thousands of dollars to support the family.
As part of the fundraiser, the family called for a transparent investigation and accountability.
Elon Musk also took to social media to share his thoughts on Canada's healthcare system after watching a video of an incident involving his father.
“When the government provides health care, it's about as good as the DMV.” Musk wrote on X: when he shared a video of a man's wife remembering her husband's death.
“We don’t know what the next step is,” Buller said. “There’s a lot of grief, disbelief and disappointment right now.”
— With files from Sarah Komadina of Global News and The Canadian Press.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
