B.C.'s Fraser Health Authority has apologized after one of its employees mistakenly cut the beard off an elderly Sikh man weeks before he died.
It marks the second time such an incident has occurred under the organization's watch in the last two years.
David Plug, a Fraser Health spokesman, says a nurse working at a Lower Mainland long-term care facility earlier this month thought she had the consent of the patient's family to trim the man's beard for medical purposes.
"She attempted to communicate with the family and there was a misunderstanding and it was all on our part," he said in an interview.
Plug said the patient, who lived in the facility for three years, died very recently. He said the incident was "deeply affecting" for the man's family.
"They (the family) asked for a written apology, which we provided, and also that staff at the facility be more informed around the spiritual needs of Sikhism," he said.
"So we've provided more information to staff at that facility around spiritual and cultural sensitivity."
Devout Sikhs often keep their beards and hair unshorn as articles of faith.
Fraser Health, which provides health care services for 1.5 million people, came under fire for a similar mistake in 2008. At the time, a nurse cut the beard off a man in a hospital intensive care unit.
The health authority took steps to educate its staff on cultural sensitivity after that incident, but Plug said the nurse in the latest case had been with the organization for less than six months and it's unclear if she was briefed on such instances.
"She's apologized to the family herself, in addition to Fraser Health apologizing," he said.
"All the staff at the facility were upset."
