B.C. to probe health care workers’ ‘racist’ game
VANCOUVER • B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix disclosed Friday that an investigation has been launched into “serious” allegations that a number of emergency room doctors and nurses played a game to guess the blood alcohol level of Indigenous patients.
In a hastily called teleconference call with reporters, Dix said “the game appears to be to guess the blood-alcohol level, how that was done and how the game was run will require more information.”
“If true it is intolerable, unacceptable and racist.”
Dix said Mary Ellen Turpel-lafond, the former legislative advocate for children’s rights, has been appointed to investigate the allegations. He said the allegations were brought to his attention Thursday night.
He didn’t say which hospital or hospitals were involved.
The minister’s announcement came as the Métis Nation of B.C., which represents nearly 90,000 Métis people in B.C., was about to release what it called “very disturbing” information regarding systemic racism in the B.C. health care system.
The release from the Métis Nation and the B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres said that First Nations, Métis and Inuit patients seeking emergency medical services in B.C. are often assumed to be intoxicated and denied medical assessment, contributing to worsening health conditions and resulting in unnecessary harm or death.
It said that participants in an Indigenous cultural safety training program detail “thousands” of cases of racism in health care and in a recent training session a participant disclosed the game played within B.C. hospital emergency rooms, involving doctors, nurses and other staff.
In the game, the winner guesses closest to the blood alcohol level without going over.
“There remains a lack of will to address systemic and specific racism towards Métis, First Nation and Inuit people,” says Leslie Varley, executive director of the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres.
“We know that our people avoid hospitals because we are afraid of having a discriminatory encounter. This happens to the point where Indigenous people end up in emergency with extreme diagnosis, like cancer.”