Coalition says it will explore ‘systemic racism’ in health care

WINNIPEG – Academics, aboriginal groups and health-care professionals say they are disappointed with an inquest into the death of a man during a 34-hour wait in a Winnipeg ER.

The coalition, which includes people from across Canada, says it will explore what it calls “systemic racism” in health care and make its own recommendations on how to address it.

Donna Martin, nursing professor at the University of Manitoba, says the group doesn’t want the issues around Brian Sinclair’s death to end with the inquest which concluded Thursday.

She says racism exists in society and it is ridiculous to pretend it doesn’t exist in Canada’s health-care system.

Sinclair, who was aboriginal, died in 2008 in the waiting room of Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre of a treatable bladder infection.

Staff testified at the inquest into his death that they assumed he was drunk or homeless rather than someone waiting for medical care.