Finlay van der Werken died on Feb. 9, 2024 after an eight-hour wait in hospital. The Burlington resident was 16 years old.

On Sept. 17, Finlay’s mother Hazel van der Werken, spoke before Halton Regional Council, to call for action aimed at preventing a similar fatality from happening again. She said the time for talking needs to end and across Ontario there should be a maximum emergency room wait time for children, a mandate for safe patient to caregiver ratios, the establishment of independent oversight of hospitals, and the implementation of mandatory reviews for every pediatric death within ER waiting rooms.

In Finlay’s situation, after suffering from migraines he was first taken to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital where he was triaged quickly and given the CTAS 2 acuity level — t

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