Agency Says Health System Unfair To Native People

Agency Says Health System Unfair To Native People

Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 13:37

Native groups say an inquest into the death of an Aboriginal homeless man in a Winnipeg emergency department must look at how First Nations are treated in the healthcare system.

Doreen Demas with the First Nations Disability Association says Aboriginal people are more likely to use inner-city emergency rooms such as the one Brian Sinclair died in.

Sinclair died of a bladder infection after waiting 34 hours unattended in the hospital emergency department.

Demas says Aboriginal people are often discriminated against when they seek help, and don’t often stand up for themselves.

She says hospitals that see many Aboriginal patients should have a First Nations liaison who could ensure they received the care they need.

Manitoba’s chief medical examiner has called an inquest into Sinclair’s death, which he says was preventable.

(courtesy of The Canadian Press)