After outrage over forced transfers, B.C. government in discussions with Catholic-run health authority about allowing MAiD

Days after B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix told CTV News he had no plans to change an agreement that allows a Catholic-run health authority to opt out of providing medical assistance in dying (MAiD) at its facilities for religious reasons, he has changed his tune.

Dix says he and his ministry have now opened up discussions with Providence Health Care about changing its policy of transferring palliative care patients who have been approved for MAiD out of St. Paul’s Hospital.

That’s what happened to 34-year-old Sam O’Neill, who had to be sedated to be moved to a nearby hospice for MAiD in the final hours of her life. She never regained consciousness to say goodbye to her family before undergoing the procedure in April.

“That wasn’t patient-focused care as we would expect it to be,” said Dix. “So we are absolutely talking to Providence and absolutely talking to St Paul’s about addressing this issue together, and that’s the work that’s going on now.”

Currently, there is a decades-old master agreement in place that allows Providence Health to opt out of providing certain services that go against the teachings of the Catholic Church at its publicly-funded facilities like St Paul’s Hospital.

Scott Harrison, a Vancouver man whose partner Christina Bates also endured a forced transfer from palliative care at St. Paul’s in her final hours in November 2021, is skeptical Dix will get Providence to willingly agree to provide medically-assisted dying on site.

“If he thinks that having a conversation with Providence is going to result in Providence doing anything, he knows better,” said Harrison.

He’s urging the health minister to give Providence Health the required 12 months notice that it is cancelling the master agreement.

“The only way I think Adrian Dix is going to have any power at that negotiating table is to sign the letter that gives 12 months notice to end the agreement,” he said. “It’s the only way to get these people to the table.”

But Dix is confident a change can be made without threatening to rip up the agreement. “We are talking to them, and I expect this issue to be resolved,” he said.

There were 24 forced transfers at St. Paul’s Hospital in 2022. Unlike Sam O’Neill, Christina Bates chose to forego pain medication during her move to Vancouver General Hospital in order to ensure she would be awake to say goodbye to her loved ones.

But Harrison says that made the transfer painful, and the entire experience was the opposite of peaceful and dignified.

“I was obviously sad because I lost my life partner, and it was really really hard. But by the time I circled back to all the emails, everyone, the doctors, the nurses, everyone was really upset about what happened,” said Harrison.

He believes palliative care staff at St Paul’s don’t want to transfer patients who have been approved for MAiD, but because the facility is overseen by Providence Health, they have no choice.

“I don’t understand why this institution still has power, I don’t understand why they get to deliver public services, I just don’t get it,” he said. “They are not a private hospital. They are a publicly-funded hospital.”

He believes the province will have to force Providence to allow MAiD at St Paul’s. And he’s urging the health minister to do that, adding, “He’s got the power.”