Health minister speaks about agreement allowing St Paul’s Hospital to opt out of medical assistance in dying

After the parents of a terminally ill Vancouver woman who was denied medical assistance in dying (MAiD) at St. Paul’s Hospital spoke out about the difficult final hours of their daughter’s life, B.C.’s health minister is responding to their concerns surrounding an agreement that allows Providence Health facilities to deny MAiD for religions reasons.

“You can be assessed for MAiD at St. Paul’s, and they do arrange for transfer. This represents, it should be said — and I know it’s difficult for the family in this case — about 0.2 per cent of MAiD. Meaning 99.8 per cent isn’t involved in such transfers at all,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.

Sam O’Neill ’s father Jim said his 34-year-old daughter’s transfer to a nearby hospice in the final hours of her life robbed them of a dignified and peaceful goodbye. Sam, who had stage four cervical cancer, had to be sedated for the move, and did not wake up at the hospice before undergoing MAiD on April 4.

“The palliative care team did everything to help with the process,” he said. “And then they just bail when it’s time to put her in a van. And that’s the Catholic Church policy. It’s just cruel. This policy where they are allowed to opt out and force people to go through it, that’s cruel.”

Dix is not planning to scrap the decades-old agreement between the B.C. government and Providence Health that allows its facilities to opt out of procedures that go against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“We aren’t putting forward that law at present. But I can tell you that B.C.’s provision of MAiD services, I think I would put up against any jurisdiction in the country,” said Dix.

When asked if religion should play a role in the kind of treatment patients receive at publicly-funded Providence Health Care facilities, he pivoted to praising the work of St. Paul’s.

“St. Paul’s Hospital is one the great hospitals in British Columbia,” said Dix. “Having non-profit organizations that are faith-based, including the Catholic Church, but also other churches, involved in long-term care and in health care overall benefits us.”

In an emailed statement, Providence Health Care said “Providence’s approach is based on its long-standing moral tradition of compassionate care that neither prolongs dying nor hastens death. We know this commitment, and how it is embodied in policy and practice, is not without challenges. We do appreciate all expressions of concern for the experience of those we care for and assure that we too want to look for solutions to any suffering experienced by those in our care.”

The health minister said he’s also looking for solutions to prevent any other families from suffering during MAiD transfers.

“The issues raised by the family will be reviewed, and there is a process to review those concerns. And I really encourage them to be part of that process,” said Dix.

That comment angered Sam O’Neill’s parents. “He said we can file a complaint. Well, the person most effected by this is dead. Very difficult for Sam to file the complaint. So doesn’t that help her, does it?” said Jim.

Instead, the O’Neills are joining other advocates in a court challenge that will argue the agreement that allows some publicly funded hospitals to opt out of MAiD is unconstitutional.

“We don’t want to ever see another family go through this. We don’t want to see another person go through this. So absolutely, we are completely on board,” said Sam’s mother Gaye O’Neill, adding the legal challenge is what Sam would have wanted.

“I prefer to work with people and find solutions rather than have those issues in court, but that’s not to say I object to people to going to court,” said Dix. “If people want to raise those issues in court, they should.”