Calls for reform after inquest into Barton Street jail death

An inquest into the death of a man behind bars at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre has led to a series of recommendations to prevent future tragedies.

Among them, a bias training for both correctional staff and the health-care providers who treat those in custody.

Zakery Rogers was 26 when he died of what we now know was myocarditis – an infection in the heart.

And while it’s taken years for that fact to be officially acknowledged, his family says they’re relieved.

But in the wake of this inquest, experts are raising bigger questions about the level of care people actually receive behind bars.

The inquest into Zakery Rogers’ death at the Barton Street jail back in 2021 has concluded. With it, the official acknowledgement of his cause of death being myocarditis.

“I was definitely relieved that they came back with myocarditis because during the trial you could tell the doctors, they were trying to discredit the chief of forensic pathologist’s — his determination with his autopsy. So I’m thankful that that never happened and it came out it was myocarditis. And I’m also happy with some of the recommendations that they put on there,” said Tesla Dolan, Rogers’ former partner.

Some of those recommendations aimed at preventing tragedies like this include monthly audits on the jails observation logs, improved communication between Hamilton Health Science workers and detention centre staff, and bias training for both – specifically to reduce prejudice when dealing with people who have used drugs in the past, have been diagnosed with a substance use order, have gotten treatment for a drug overdose or are experiencing homelessness.

“Even one of these recommendations being — if they were in place, yes, this was definitely avoidable,” said Dolan.

WATCH MORE: Family of man who died at Hamilton detention centre ‘discouraged’ with inquest process

Experts agree that bias training is needed.

“It needs to be, ‘Okay, what has happened in this person’s past that may have led to this, and how can I approach this in a manner that’s fair to the individual, fair to myself, and fair to my own experiences that I may have had in the past,’” said Michelle Arnot, Medical professor at the University of Toronto.

“I wasn’t surprised. I think it’s something that we know about health care and about sort of the treatment of both people who use drugs and people who have experienced incarceration, is that there is stigma associated with both communities. And so I think we know that this impacts people’s health care. And certainly I think any initiative to try to reduce that stigma with further training is going to serve this population of people very well,” said Robin Lennox, MPP for Hamilton-Centre.

Lennox, a former doctor herself who specialized in addiction medicine, says while people can sometimes get the right kind of help that they need in jail, it’s what happens when they’re released that’s often most detrimental.

“But oftentimes the second they leave the jail, those medications are stopped. There’s no effort to make sure that they have a family doctor or a care provider who is going to be able to continue their care. So we really need to think about, for this group of people, thinking about time in incarceration as just one chapter of their care. But we need to make sure that we’re actually working on those transitions to make sure they’re safe because right now we’re essentially just leaving people stranded and that’s where we’re seeing a huge drop off in health outcomes, is in that immediate first few weeks after leaving jail,” said Lennox.

As with any inquest, the recommendations that come from them are just that, recommendations. And while often incorporated by the parties named in the report, there is no legal binding requirement for them to do so.

WATCH MORE: Family remembers man who died in Barton Street jail before inquest