Daughter seeks answers in death of healing lodge inmate
Cause listed as COVID-19 complications, but details have been hard to get hold of
Barbara Still has been trying to keep busy as she mourns the death of her father, who was a Nîcisân — brother — at the Willow Cree Healing Lodge when he died of complications related to COVID-19.
She has many questions about the death of her father, Eugene Still, in a hospital on Jan. 23. He was in his mid-60s and had high blood pressure, but his health was generally fine, she said.
Of the eight COVID -19 cases the Correctional Service of Canada has reported at the healing lodge to date, seven people have recovered.
Still said she's tried calling the lodge and her father's case worker, but she's been told to call back at different times or directed to another person.
She last spoke to her father on Dec. 26. She said he had expressed concern about the virus and hoped Willow Cree wasn't accepting inmate transfers from Saskatchewan Penitentiary, where an outbreak infected 249 inmates, resulting in one death related to the illness.
She described him as loving, caring and hardworking, noting that he was a fire-keeper at Ochapowace Nation's annual powwows.
“He was always there when somebody needed help,” she said.
“People would ask him for help and he would have no problem. He had no problem. He would probably give you his jacket if you needed a jacket. That's how my dad was.”
In the short time he was at the lodge, he became sick twice and had to self-isolate, but those instances weren't related to COVID -19, Still said.
When he became ill with the virus, he was quarantined quickly and she learned from his case worker that he was taken to hospital after he had trouble breathing, she said.
She doesn't know how long he waited to seek medical help, but she wants to know how long it took for help to be provided after he complained of breathing trouble.
Someone at the lodge told her they couldn't answer questions because it would be a breach of policy, she said.
Her father's caseworker told her she could comment only on his case — not about whether inmates had been transferred to the healing lodge — and her family hasn't heard from the caseworker since her father died, she added.
Citing privacy legislation, the CSC said it couldn't provide details related to an inmate's medical records, but could speak about policies and procedures regarding deaths in its custody.
Spokesman Jeff Campbell wrote in an email that CSC contacts an inmate's next of kin or emergency contact in circumstances of hospitalization or death and its family liaison co-ordinators help with the information sharing process. Campbell said family members seeking information about an inmate who has died should contact the site where the inmate was incarcerated.
He would probably give you his jacket if you needed a jacket. That's how my dad was.
Campbell said inmate transfers into Willow Cree Healing Lodge were suspended between Dec. 28 and Feb. 11 in response to a COVID-19 outbreak. He said inmates transferring into Willow Cree are still required to isolate for 14 days after arrival.
“CSC has identified the probable source of the outbreak at Willow Cree Healing Lodge, but for privacy reasons we are unable to provide details,” he wrote.
On Dec. 31, the CSC announced the first cases detected at the lodge.
Still said getting answers to her questions is important to her as she tries to heal. She still wants to know why transfers continued until Dec. 28, when the Saskatchewan Penitentiary outbreak was declared Dec. 12, she added.
“I've been really having a hard time with this. Me and my dad, we were really close. He was the only parent that I had left ... Getting those questions answered would make me feel better, knowing that my dad didn't suffer when he was sick. I just need those questions answered. I have to know. I have to know.”