Horwath calls for inquest into suicides at hospital
THE CALL just got louder for a coroner’s inquest into the suicides of 11 psychiatric patients at St. Joseph’s hospital.
Added to the outcry are the voices of those who love Daniel Reale, a devoted family man and gentle soul. Dan was a man of great faith, who gave back to his Welland community by co-ordinating his church’s Out of the Cold program. He loved long sits with his wife Lori Ann on the front porch and long walks with his black lab, Tucker. And he enjoyed cheering his Buffalo Bills from his favourite green chair.
In May, Dan admitted himself, voluntarily, to the West 5th Campus because he wanted to get well. For 29 years he had fought hard against his bipolar disease.
He knew he was in trouble, he knew he was suicidal and he wanted the hospital to save him.
But while in his hospital room, steps
away from the staff he had entrusted his life to, he took the laces from his shoes and asphyxiated himself. He was 58. His suicide is among that heartbreaking cluster of deaths at St. Joe’s within a span of 18 months.
On Friday, Dan’s loved ones gathered around provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath outside of the West 5th Campus to demand a coroner’s inquest into those deaths.
“We were so relieved when a bed became available,” said Dan’s sister, Denise Skowronnek. “We convinced him that with proper care, close monitoring and constant supervision that he would receive in such a highly specialized facility, that this would, in fact, keep him safe from harm.” “We couldn’t have been more wrong.” Horwath called the deaths at St. Joe’s a “suicide crisis” and said families “should be able to trust that their loved ones will be safe and able to get better. When that doesn’t happen, and tragedies occur again and again, families deserve answers.”
“We’re here today to call for a coroner’s inquest into the suicides among St. Joseph’s patients,” Horwath said.
Carol Patenaude, whose daughter Nicole, 20, jumped off a bridge and died while on a day pass from St. Joe’s, began publicly asking for an inquest after her family’s tragedy in May. (I too have called for an inquest in an earlier column.) She was encouraged by Horwath lending her voice to the issue.
“Something needs to be done before there are more tragedies like Nicole,” says Patenaude, who has no qualms about exposing her daughter’s life and death to the public during a coroner’s inquest.
“I never have been ashamed of Nicole. Mental illness is a sickness she did not ask for.”
While St. Joe’s had experts do a review of nine of the suicides (Nicole and Dan died during the months that the review process dragged on past its expected completion date), it doesn’t have the same transparency, depth or scope of an inquest.
David Higgins, president of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, issued a written statement Friday following the call for an inquest.
“We have investigated each tragic death and also have sought outside review of the events, our care approach, our policies and procedures. The recommendations from this external report were made public and have been submitted to the coroner’s office. The coroner receives all reviews of deaths by suicide in our facility and we ensure all information is available to the coroner’s officer. We have and will help with any review, investigation or inquest.” (For the full statement, go to thespec.com.)
At an inquest, witnesses are called to testify, the families of the 11 patients can have standing, the scope can include all the deaths, a jury is able to ask questions and make recommendations and — most importantly — it is all done in public.
There is, however, a glaring problem with inquests — their recommendations are nonbinding. Ultimately, it will be up to St. Joe’s to implement them or not.
The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario recently told me it has no plan to call an inquest involving St. Joe’s.
This — I would suggest — is a good time to make some noise. Speak up and demand accountability and transparency. Get on social media, write a letter to The Spec, email your MPP — including Horwath — and call for an inquest.
The motto of the Office of the Chief Coroner is “We speak for the dead to protect the living.”
It’s time we all speak for those 11 patients.