St. Catharines family looking for answers after daughter’s hospital death

A St. Catharines family is left with more questions than answers after their daughter Heather Winterstein collapsed in a hospital waiting room and died not too long after.

She loved everything. She loved animals. She had a dog she took everywhere," said her mother, Francine Shimizu. "She had her dog, a cat, rabbits... it was like a zoo when she was living with me."

Heather, 24, went to the St. Catharines site of Niagara Health on Dec. 9 complaining of severe back pain. Her family said her concerns were brushed aside; she was given Tylenol and sent home.

The next day, after waking up with more intense pain, her father called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Her family said she collapsed in the waiting room and never regained consciousness.

They (called and) told me I needed to get there. It wasn't looking very good," said Shimizu.

When she arrived, doctors in the intensive care unit were doing chest compressions in an attempt to revive Heather.

It was only after her daughter, who Francine described as an Anishnawbe Kwe (girl), passed away that she had learned it was the second trip to the emergency room in two days.

They just made a pre-judgement about her and sent her on her way," Shimizu said, noting her daughter had struggled with addiction in the past but had been working on kicking a heroin addiction.

She had worked at beating it. She hadn't used it for three months," she said.

In an emailed statement to Niagara this Week, Niagara Health President and CEO Lynn Guerriero said she was deeply troubled to learn of concerns raised yesterday by family members and leaders within the local Indigenous community related to the death last Friday of a patient in our care."

The incident is not being ignored, she said.

An internal quality care review is underway to fully understand the patient's experience, and the family will be involved in this process," Guerriero said in the statement, adding that she plans to meet with Heather's family and Indigenous leaders in Niagara to suggest the health system and Indigenous leaders work together with an external third-party review.

According to Heather's father, Mark Winterstein, some of his concerns over Heather's conditions were allayed after her first visit to the ER on Dec. 9.

They sent her home to me. At first, I thought she might be OK, as she had gone to the hospital," Mark said. But she was still in bed with pain."

When things got worse the following day, Mark called for an ambulance. Upon arrival, Heather was left in the ER. Within hours, she died.

They should have taken it more seriously," Mark said.

While he stopped short of saying he believes the fact Heather was an Indigenous person played a role in her treatment at the hospital, Francine's sister and Heather's aunt, Jill Lunn, had no such qualms. She has been in a similar position when she has had to deal with the health-care system for either herself or her children.

It doesn't work to everybody's advantage," Lunn said. You get sub-acceptable care based on misconceptions."

But how she said Heather was treated goes far beyond that.

The severity of her case was so much more," she said. Had they done a proper assessment they would have seen something was wrong with her. She needed a doctor."

Likewise, Wendy Sturgeon, executive director of the Niagara Chapter Native Women, said Heather's death is the latest in a series of incidents involving Indigenous people running into problems within the health-care system.

One of them, she said, was Brent Sky, who was sent home from a Kenora, Ont., hospital after being given ibuprofen for pain last October. He was found dead in his home 24 hours later.

This is not new," she said. Heather is only the most recent victim of it. When we start to put those pieces together, for us, it's an underhanded way of the genocide (of Indigenous people) continuing."

In the Niagara Health statement, Guerriero said the hospital takes these concerns seriously and plans on taking a more holistic review of the issue.

I will also be suggesting that this independent review look more broadly at the health-care experiences of Indigenous patients and their concerns," she said.

She added that diversity and inclusion are priorities for Niagara Health making a commitment across the organization to denounce racism and discrimination in all forms.

Since then, we have done a lot of work together to create a more culturally safe environment for our patients and their families, and for our teams."

Shimizu is seeking advice from a lawyer on what steps the family may take next. The family is also contacting departments at various levels of government, including Indigenous Affairs and the provincial Ministry of Health. In the meantime, a GoFundMe Page has been set up to help pay for lawyers and funeral costs.