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A patient died this week while waiting for treatment in the crowded emergency department waiting room at Manitoba's largest hospital, where nurses say they are so overwhelmed they simply can't keep an eye on everyone all the time.

"We are investigating a potential critical incident that occurred during a one-hour window on Feb. 27 in the [Health Sciences Centre] emergency department," a Shared Health spokesperson told CBC News in an email Wednesday.

"An initial review of the circumstances surrounding this event is underway."

Privacy legislation prevents the health agency from speaking to the specifics of the patient's case, the spokesperson said.

It's unsettling news but also not unexpected, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said.

"I've been hearing from nurses in the ER for quite some time with regards to their fear that incidents like this would happen, just because of the working conditions and the lack of staff to monitor patients," she said.

"It is a shame and condolences to the family that this happened. It is such a shame that our health-care system has fallen into this disrepair."

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