Uko family questions lack of care
B.C. man in mental crisis turned away on second hospital visit
The family of Samwel Uko say they have learned he visited the hospital a second time on the evening leading up to his death, but the troubled young man was escorted out.
The 20-year-old resident of Abbotsford, B.C., was subsequently found dead at Wascana Lake on the evening of May 21. His family has said his death was the result of suicide. Uko’s death had already sparked concern in the community because he visited Regina General Hospital earlier that morning while suffering a mental health crisis.
During a phone call with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on Wednesday, the family was stunned to learn Uko had visited the same hospital not just once, but twice that day. The second time, he arrived under the escort of police, who responded after he called 9-1-1.
“I was totally shocked,” Justin Nyee, Uko’s uncle, told the Leader-post during a phone interview on Thursday.
Nyee said the hospital had no record of Uko’s second visit. The only evidence of it exists on security camera footage.
The Regina Police Service (RPS) confirmed that at 5:36 p.m. on May 21, an officer in the area of Broadway Avenue and Winnipeg Street picked up Uko, who would only say that he wanted to go to the hospital.
Uko waited at the hospital for approximately 40 minutes. Nyee said he was told security footage shows nurses asking Uko for his name, and that he was escorted out after he did not provide it. He said the SHA is investigating why Uko was escorted out of the building.
Regina police would later respond to Wascana Lake at 7:36 p.m. for a report of a man seen in the water. Uko’s body was found in the lake, and he was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.
The latest revelation has been frustrating for the family, who already felt the system had failed Uko.
“What struck me is, even given his condition, he was still trying to get help and he knew that by going to hospital he will get the help he needed,” Nyee said. “Like, where else should he go?”
The family also learned additional details about Uko’s first visit to the hospital early that morning. Around 5 a.m., Uko, who was visiting at a relative’s home in Regina, had woken up his cousin and asked to go to the hospital. His cousin wasn’t allowed to stay with Uko because of restrictions on hospital visitors due to COVID -19.
Nyee said based on information the family received from the SHA, Uko saw multiple nurses and was asked if he was having thoughts of suicide — to which he replied no. Uko was also seen by a doctor, who diagnosed him with depression and sleeping anxiety, and wrote him a prescription for medication. He was also given a referral to a mental health clinic.
Uko eventually left the hospital and headed to a pharmacy to get medication, but was unsuccessful. Nyee suspects he may have gone to the wrong pharmacy. He also received a phone call from the mental health clinic. According to Nyee, during the call Uko told the health-care worker that he was having thoughts of suicide. Nyee said he was told the worker still listed Uko’s condition as mild.
The SHA is conducting a review of Uko’s experience. It would not comment when questioned Thursday about this second hospital visit, explaining it cannot answer specific questions about the investigation.
The SHA’S investigation is following what is known as a critical incident process.
According to the Saskatchewan Critical Incident Reporting Guideline, a critical incident is classified as “a serious adverse health event including, but not limited to, the actual or potential loss of life, limb or function related to a health service provided by, or a program operated by, a health care organization (HCO).”
Following an investigation into a critical incident, health organizations make recommendations for improvements, which they are responsible for implementing.
The family doesn’t want what happened to Uko to happen to others. Nyee feels the hospital was too concerned with procedure while attending to his nephew.
“I told them, ‘You guys sounded to me like it’s all about paperwork, (rather) than looking after the person,” Nyee said.