Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s former Chief Medical Officer of Health, was set to begin working with the Indigenous Wellness Core (IWC) — a part of Alberta Health Services — and now she isn’t, and one of her would-be colleagues has resigned in protest.
“I went from believing I was a leader to recognizing I was a token,” Dr. Esther Tailfeathers told Global News.
She is the senior medical director of the IWC.
“My realization is that with all the experience and the work that I’ve done in Indigenous health, it didn’t mean anything.”
Tailfeathers is upset after learning her team’s decision to hire Hinshaw was reversed after being initially approved.
She says there was an extensive and competitive process before picking Hinshaw to fill a role in the IWC as Public Health and Preventive Medicine Lead.
Hinshaw was offered the job in May.
On June 1, a memo went out internally, welcoming Hinshaw to the team.
It led to backlash, mostly from those unhappy with how Hinshaw handled the pandemic.
AHS issued a statement shortly after: “Dr. Hinshaw is not employed by AHS.”
Tailfeathers hasn’t been told who rescinded the job offer.
“Who rescinded it? I don’t know, and I think there are questions to be asked about why the job was rescinded, and somebody should ask about ‘did anybody think about the impact this will make to Indigenous lives in the province?'”
She’s concerned the decision to send her team back to restart the hiring process could cost Indigenous lives.
“It breaks my heart to know that we worked very hard to start lifting the strategy but it was completely ignored and for some irrational reason, Deena’s offer was rescinded,” Tailfeathers said in a Zoom interview.
Global News asked AHS why the decision was made and by whom.
The health authority responded it would not comment on the matter.
“AHS doesn’t speak to personnel matters,” the statement read.
“AHS remains firmly committed to working with Indigenous communities and will continue to work to provide culturally safe healthcare for all First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples throughout the province. ”
Lorian Hardcastle, an associate professor at the faculty of law and Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, questions why this happened.
“The team supported Dr. Hinshaw’s hiring, she is qualified to fill this position despite being a controversial figure, so it isn’t clear what other than politics may have driven this,” she said.
The Premier’s Office dismissed that thought.
“AHS is responsible for hiring decisions and the government of Alberta does not comment on AHS personnel decisions,” a spokesperson for the premier said in full.
Hardcastle says if the decision to rescind Hinshaw’s job offer wasn’t political, both Tailfeathers’ team and the public deserve to know what did cause it.
She says AHS’ decision has led to two major losses to Indigenous health.
As for Tailfeathers, she says this move may deter talented physicians and health-care workers from coming to Alberta.
“This scares all physicians because nobody is guaranteed a job,” Tailfeathers warned.
“Even if they go through protocol with proper search and selection, they meet all the criteria, they’re offered a job, and the next day they find out their job has been rescinded.”