Bonnie Dinn is seen in front of Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital on Monday afternoon after security escorted her from the building earlier that day. — Star photo by Frank Gale

Bonnie Dinn, a resident of Kippens, is upset by the treatment she says she received at Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville — treatment which ended with a visit from hospital security.

“It’s bad enough to be locked up in your own room for a full week, but then to have security called on you in the hospital is crazy,” she said.

Dinn said she had been to Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in emergency on Sunday where she saw Dr. Greg Mercer of Corner Brook, who was filling in for another doctor.
She said Dr. Mercer had told her to return on Monday and register out front to get her vital signs checked by a nurse, since she had now been diagnosed with pneumonia.

While waiting, with her mask on as instructed, she started coughing and said she got “the look” from the receptionist.

Dinn said she tried to explain to her that Dr. Mercer had told her to be there, but the first thing the receptionist said is she shouldn’t be there but on the other side where the flu assessment centre is.

“I was so embarrassed, especially when I heard her calling for security, that I went out in the porch, then I returned to get the name of the receptionist and she wouldn’t give it to me,” she said.

Dinn said she asked a security guard the receptionist’s name and he said he didn’t know and even when she went back to the porch the receptionist came out there. It was then the security guard said he was handling the situation.

“Despite that, the receptionist continued shouting at me, saying she wasn’t trying to pick a fight and I wasn’t supposed to be there in that area,” she said.

Karen Alexander, Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital site director, said an investigation is being carried out into Dinn’s complaints.

Dinn had left the hospital after the incident. She said that later Alexander told her it was important to return to the hospital and go to the flu clinic, which she did on Monday afternoon. She said when she went to the flu assessment clinic, they took her to emergency, and there told her to throw her mask in the garbage because she was no longer contagious.

“I ended up back in emergency where I needed to be in the first place,” she said.