WATCH: The family of a man who committed suicide after he walked away from Abbotsford Regional Hospital is speaking out. Jill Bennett Reports.
Family members of a man who took his own life after walking away from Abbotsford Regional Hospital last year say his death could have been prevented.
Brian Geisheimer was admitted to the hospital with depression in December of last year after a suicide attempt a few days earlier.
“I was told repeatedly that he was high-risk and they were keeping a close eye on him,” said Geisheimer’s mother Lorraine Johnson.
“December 28th he was agitated, angry, stormed past the nurses’ station and left and indicated that he should have done it right the first time.”
Geisheimer’s case, and those of others who died under similar circumstances, will be the focus of a coroner’s inquiry scheduled for next spring.
Johnson met with a doctor and members of the Abbotsford hospital’s mental health team to discuss her concerns in advance of the inquest, but says she didn’t get a lot of real answers.
READ MORE: Growing concerns about mental health care at Abbotsford hospital
“I had questions and concerns about Brian’s hospital stay and lack of communication, for sure, with the family…We were basically told, ‘no, he’s an adult and this is between Brian and his doctors.”
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Another inquest into the hanging death of a man in an Abbotsford Hospital in 2008 led to 43 recommendations, but Johnson wonders why many of them were never implemented.
“If a patient is committed–which says they are not responsible for their own well-being and they are in danger–then for sure the family needs to be involved,” she said. “There needs to be an advocate, a support person.”
In an email, The Fraser Health Authority said:
“We do work closely with the Coroners Service and respond to all requests for information and documentation; and we will respond to any recommendations contained in the Verdict at inquest.”
Johnson says she hopes the inquest will lead to changes so that “no other family should ever go through this again.”
-With files from Jill Bennett
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