After a grief-stricken mother spoke out today, saying her son killed himself an hour after being released from Burnaby Hospital, the spotlight is back on the process the province has in place for releasing people struggling with mental health issues.
The latest tragedy comes just before a coroner’s inquest is set to begin into the questionable release of three people from Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
On separate occasions, Brian Geisheimer, Sebastian Abdi, and Sarah Charles all checked into Abbotsford Regional Hospital needing help for mental health issues. All three would die shortly after leaving the facility and their unrelated deaths spurred a public inquest, which is set to start on May 16.
“What fell through the cracks was Brian was allowed to storm out of the hospital,” Geisheimer’s mother Lorraine Johnson told Global News.
“He was upset; he called over his shoulder ‘I should’ve done it right the first time’. He had this outburst, swore at a nurse, and there was no follow-up. And I just do not understand why somebody would not realize what an emergency this was.”
Geisheimer was admitted into hospital with depression in December 2014 after a suicide attempt a few days earlier. Johnson says she was repeatedly told her son was “high-risk” and they were keeping a close eye on him. But after Geisheimer left the hospital, Johnson says the staff waited an hour before calling the police and another hour before she was notified her son was missing.
His body was found in Mission the same day.
“I would like to not think it’s because they don’t care, but certainly attending to my son’s care and to the emergency of him taking off from the hospital, indicates it was not held as a high priority,” Johnson says.
Johnson says the families of adult mental health patients are often shut out of the process and it’s something she would like to see the province change.
“Brian was committed to the psych ward. We were not involved in the care, in fact, I was told this was between Brian and his doctor,” Johnson explains.
BC Health Minister Terry Lake defends his government’s record saying the province has increased mental health resources 69 per cent in 15 years.
“Is it enough? That’s a good question,” Lake said. “I don’t think any jurisdiction that deals with healthcare would ever say there’s enough resources to deal with these complex issues.”
But Johnson says the ministry, Fraser Health Authority and police have not learned from the past. An inquest into the 2008 hanging death of a man at Abbotsford Hospital led to 43 recommendations but many were ignored.
“If they’d been implemented by the Abbotsford Hospital and the Abbotsford Police Department, we might not need to have this upcoming inquest to review these three deaths,” Johnson said.
~ with files from Jordan Armstrong