Hamilton hospital says it will undertake case review after patient sent home

St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton is apologizing to a family, after discharging a patient less than 24 hours after they attempted to take their own life only for them to go home and try again.

“It was like 12:30, I called the hospital, they said she was going to be transported to a centre for people in crisis. I said, ‘okay, she’s in good hands — she’ll be looked after. Everything was fine’,” said Jake Witts.

Witts was at work the day after his fiancé attempted suicide, periodically calling St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton to check on her condition.

“At around approximately 2 p.m., she texted me and said she was being discharged, given a taxi voucher and would be sent home,” said Witts.

“I immediately called the hospital, they said ‘she’s not in our care anymore, and we can’t give out any information regarding her or her discharge’.”

Fearing the worst, Witts rushed home.

“When I got home she was already on the couch. There was a bottle of pills tipped over,” said Witts. “She had done the same thing again, like, immediately after being discharged.”

For the second time in less than 24 hours Witts was on the phone with 9-1-1, desperate to save his partner’s life.

“Definitely traumatic,” said Witts.

Witts says the hospital’s decision to discharge her has left him disillusioned with the healthcare system.

“She could have died — she could have suffered permanent brain damage,” said Witts. “She could have gotten in a vehicle and drove, and hurt herself or someone else.”

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In a statement to CHCH News, Dr. Randi McCabe, the hospital’s Vice President of Mental Health and Addictions said, “we have apologized for any pain or distress experienced by the patient and her family. While we cannot discuss individual cases due to patient confidentiality, we are working with this patient and her loved ones to understand what happened and identify any opportunities for improvement. We will undertake a case review and implement any changes that are required to ensure the safety of our patients.”

“She described the way that they discharged her as ‘kicking her out’,” said Witts. “She repeatedly asked for me to be contacted, and they said it would be best if she just did that on her own.”

Emily Dakers, who is the Director of the Good Shepherd in Hamilton, works closely with St. Joseph’s Hospital, as a short-term stay home for those who have been recently discharged, she explained what can happen.

“A lot of the folks [who] come to stay with us, have been put through a Form 1 process — that means they’ve been taken to hospital, assessed by psychiatry, and released to us,” said Dakers.

Patients admitted under Form 1, can be held for up to 72 hours.

“When we receive a referral from St. Joes, our frontline team speaks to that person directly,” said Dakers. “We are a very person-centered program here, what are their goals, what do they want to want to work on?”

“If the person staying with us wants us to connect with family or friends, we can support that conversation. It can be difficult, we can help to facilitate that, if that’s requested of us,” said Dakers.

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