Island Health is again apologizing for an incident of apparent racism against an Indigenous patient after an Ahousaht Elder was denied treatment for COVID and turned away from a clinic after being told she only had a cold.
After pressure from family, Tofino hospital staff finally administered a COVID test, and sent her alone to a hotel after results came back positive.
68-year old Darlene Dick was rescued from the hotelroom by her daughter, and is now in ICU in Nanaimo.
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Vice-President Mariah Charleson said Indigenous people have battled racism for too long at hospitals, and Island Health and the province need to adopt the 24 recommendations made after another high profile incident of racism in the summer.
“We know the impacts [of racism] because we’re constantly living it on a daily basis,” she said. “A great start is to really take those 24 recommendations to heart and see them in action.”
Island Health issued a generic response when the incident gained attention this past weekend, but haven’t responded to our specific questions.
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