Emergency Room’s Neglect Horrifying

From: SCO and First Nations Disability Association

Re: Death of Brian Sinclair going unnoticed during 34-hour wait at hospital

Grand Chief Morris Swan Shannacappo of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization is demanding federal and provincial governments and politicians immediately address a wide range of issues that may have come into play during tragic situation surrounding the death of Brian Sinclair at the Health Sciences Centre.”There are two types of issues here,” Swan Shannacappo said today. “One type relates to the narrow specifics of this case. The other relates to the broader issue of how First Nations people – especially street people and disabled people – are being treated within the heath care system.”

There are many questions that must be answered with regard to the specifics of Mr. Sinclair’s situation. Why was he neglected in such a horrifying way? Was race a factor? Was being First Nation persons and a street person an issue? Would an affluent Caucasian who had arrived by taxi have been neglected in the same way? Of course not.

“When news or the incident came out we all thought the man would probably be Native. First Nations people are only about 10 per cent of the population in Manitoba but when it comes to neglect and mistreatment by authorities, we bear the brunt of all of this.”

Doreen Demas, director of the First Nations Disability Association in Winnipeg said the conditions for such a tragedy have existed for a long time. She said an inquiry should look at not only whether certain individuals who were directly involved in the case were at fault, although that too was important. It should also look at overall policies and inadequacies in approaches and services.

One improvement at emergency rooms would be providing these facilities with an additional person, who would cover the gap between the admittance personnel who sit behind the glass window and the security personal. There should be someone – ideally a First Nations person – who understood the culture of First Nations people and who was comfortable dealing with impoverished and homeless people.

Rash judgments are common in society, Demas said

“A woman who I know had a stroke so her speech was slurred, she dragged her foot and she was visibly a First Nations person, so people assumed she was just drunk Indian and if she fell down nobody helped her or they treated her like she was drunk.”

A lot of people from First Nations, who have disabilities, are forced to move to the cities, where they are poor and homeless, she said. The issues effected disabled people should be discussed during the federal election campaign, she said, adding that the situations like the one involving Mr. Sinclair are shameful.

“This is not the United States. This is Canada where we are supposed to have free health care.”

Swan Shannacappo agreed that the Sinclair case was horrifying.

The Health Sciences Centre’s code of conduct states: ‘I will treat each individual with fairness, respect and dignity.’ Well, where was the respect and dignity this man should have been shown.”

This isn’t the first time an issue like this has been raised with a health care institution. In the past SCO chiefs have raised the issue of neglectful treatment at the hospital in Portage la Prairie.

All politicians and political parties should be discussing this issue. Currently the provincial Progressive Conservative opposition in Manitoba is trying to make political hay out of this issue. However, their cousins, the federal Conservatives, cancelled the Kelowna Accord which was designed to, among other things, deal with the poverty of First Nations people.

The implications of inadequate funding for First Nations health care is having a big impact on First Nations health care and this could get much worse in the future as populations age and expand and the diabetes crisis worsens, Swan Shannacappo said.

People are having to relocate from First Nations to the city because adequate funding isn’t provided for handicapped services. Also, the federal government had been looking at forcing diabetes patients to relocate rather pay for transporting them to hospitals in their area several times for dialysis treatments.

“These people are being pushed into cities where they end up living in poverty, often not having a place to live or staying in crowded, dumpy, miserable conditions. What happened to Mr. Sinclair was simply one of the many tragic outcomes for impoverished First Nations people living in Winnipeg.

Every political party that has been in power provincial or federally during the last 10-20 years has played a role in this problem and it is important that federal, provincial and First Nations all get together to search for solutions.

The Jordan’s Principle, which calls for proper health care for all children, should apply to adults as well.

Swan Shannacappo said he wants a full, public inquiry into the Sinclair case. However discussions on how to address crisis areas in First Nations health care should begin immediately and not await the outcome of the enquiry.

“Our First Nations health care crisis must be an election issue.”