Vancouver doctor disappointed by B.C.'s plan for medical assistance in dying at St. Paul's Hospital
Last week, the B.C. government announced it would create a separate clinical space for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, but Dr. Jyothi Jayaraman says that it’s not a compromise.
“Compromises require concessions,” she said. “St. Paul’s did not concede anything, it was Minister Adrian Dix and the province that conceded.”
Dr. Jyothi Jayaraman quit her palliative care job earlier this summer, after the hospice she worked at no longer provided MAiD due to its new religious affiliations. She’s now an independent practitioner.
St. Paul’s Hospital is tied to Providence Health, a Catholic health organization that bans MAiD, despite federal legislation allowing the practice.
In June, Health Minister Adrian Dix said he was discussing with St. Paul’s Hospital how it could accommodate MAiD.
Its announcement of a separate space which will not be part of the existing hospital, but on adjacent property and connected to the hospital with a corridor, has been met with criticism.
"It's not about candlelight and kumbaya and holding hands,” said Dr. Jayaraman. “It's that time that you're taking, instead of lying in bed and having your loved ones around you, you're now going to be transported out. Even if it looks like the Shangri-La, that's not the point, you might be sedated because it's been so uncomfortable."
She says the province’s announcement was disappointing, as it won’t stop forced transfers at other hospitals throughout B.C.
Since the start of June, she's had to transfer eight patients to separate health-care facilities where MAiD is permitted.
"I alone have had forced transfers from places other than St. Paul’s, they could be Mount St. Joseph’s, there are some lodges and there is the Rotary Hospice in Richmond."
Forced transfers are something she says are difficult for health-care professionals, knowing the traumatic experience they put patients through during their final moments of life.
“It's not nuns running the hospital or priests, it’s every one of us that works in these places, we don't subscribe to these faiths, and it’s public tax payer dollars going in there, so it's time to stop."
She’s one of many who've joined the Dying with Dignity organization to begin working with a legal team to file a constitutional challenge.
CEO of the organization Helen Long says she hopes to have it filed in the next couple of months.
"When it's a publicly-funded facility, any taxpayer should be able to access the services they need in that hospital regardless of the religious presence behind the hospital,” said Long.
The B.C. government was asked for comment and told CTV News they’d have a response Monday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979415.1722030986!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious but rainy opening ceremony on the Seine River
Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rain-soaked, rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy along the Seine River.
BREAKING Celine Dion stages comeback with performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.