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Family left with more questions following fatality inquiry

May 5, 2017 | 2:29 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The family of a man who killed himself while in the care of staff at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital says they have even more questions following an inquiry into his death.

Glenn Piche hanged himself on June 20th, 2013 after being admitted to the psychiatric unit.

The third and final day of the inquiry concluded with the family’s lawyer making more than 20 recommendations about things she and the family believe need to change so another family doesn’t experience the same pain.

But Piche’s brother, Marc, said he has more questions than answers.

“We found answers about what took place but the truth was never revealed,” he said. “Everybody did their job. My brother died. So what happened? We still don’t know the truth!”

The lawyer’s recommendations included installing cameras in all of the patient rooms and in the hallways in 5 North.

His psychiatrist, Dr. Aditi Patel, requested staff check on Piche every 30 minutes after he told her he wasn’t suicidal.

“You could monitor behaviours and if you see something happening or you see, I mean, for instance, with Glenn, you would’ve seen him attempt to do something with the bed sheet,” said Julie, his sister-in-law. “That would’ve been totally obvious.”

Three other files were brought before the judge, outlining similar cases of suicide. The family’s lawyer pointed out that previous judges had made recommendations of having cameras and video, but the system never changed.

Judge Fred Fisher agreed with the recommendation that cameras should be in all of the patient rooms and was clear that it would be included in his recommendations.

Fisher went on to say that he can simply make the recommendations to Alberta Health Services, but there’s no mechanism to have them put in place.

“Hopefully they’ll do what we ask them to do,” he told the court.

Marc said he was surprised to hear that the recommendations from the judge are simply that, only recommendations as to what should be done.

“It’s going be nice to see the recommendations but they’re not law abiding recommendations, they’re only suggestions,” he said. “They could just be tossed aside.”

The family was happy to see the inquiry finally happen, despite how long the process took. Fisher also noted the process length, saying the fact that it took nearly four years since Piche’s death was “totally inappropriate”.

But one of Piche’s daughters, Melanie Bayer, said they weren’t about to stop fighting.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, a person is a person. And even if there’s just one other person out there that loves them, that matters and he mattered,” Bayer said. “I hope that here, today, that we’re showing people that we care about him and we’re doing everything because he deserves it.”

Fisher vowed to have his report completed in a “timely fashion”.