man calls for change after wife’s agonizing ER death For the Holthoff family, a trip to the emergency room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre on New Year's Eve turned into a nightmare.When it worsened throughout the morning, Holthoff drove his wife to the nearest emergency department in Amherst, N.S., around 11 a.m. Holthoff said he carried Allison into the hospital on his back.When Holthoff took Allison back to the waiting room, he said she was no longer able to sit in the wheelchair the hospital had provided because of the pain she was in, so she ended up lying on the floor.The results of Allison's autopsy haven't been released and he hadn't heard from anyone in government, except his local MLA, for at least a week after her death.Her obituary said she won a volunteer of the year award for her work organizing community events like pancake breakfasts and the annual children's Christmas party."