Coroner's inquest into woman's death at Prince County Hospital begins in Summerside
CBC
A coroner's inquest looking into a death that occurred in the psychiatric unit at Prince County Hospital began Monday in Summerside.
Mary Angela Arsenault, who went by Angela, was an involuntary patient at the Summerside hospital on Feb. 17, 2023.
The 67-year-old Tignish woman was struggling with mental health issues and, according to the Crown, died of a brain injury after an apparent suicide attempt inside the hospital's psychiatric unit.
The aim of the inquest is not to make findings of reasonable responsibility, but rather to uncover what led to Arsenault's death, and determine what can be done to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Over the next few days, Crown attorney John Diamond and Health P.E.I. lawyer Steven Forbes will have the chance to ask questions to several witnesses, including doctors and nurses who saw Arsenault before and during her time at Prince County Hospital.
Arsenault's son and daughter are also participating in the inquest, and asking questions of the witnesses.
Her daughter, Lisa Arsenault, said her goal is to advocate for better supports and services for Islanders with mental health issues.
The first witness to take the stand Monday was a doctor who saw Arsenault three times in the ER at Alberton's Western Hospital in the few weeks before her death.
According to the doctor, Arsenault said she was lonely and sad, and needed help sleeping. The doctor said in her first two visits, Arsenault told him she had no intention of harming herself.
He felt she could manage with medication, family support — which she had — and a follow-up visit.
But in early February, an ambulance rushed Arsenault back to the ER after she had overdosed on her medication and was unresponsive. She was treated in the intensive-care unit at Prince County Hospital and was eventually moved to the psychiatric unit.
The details of what happened between then and Arsenault's death 10 days later weren't discussed at the inquest Monday.
The Crown plans to call several more witnesses over the next few days, including community mental health workers and other hospital staff who were working the day Arsenault died.
At the end of the inquest, a jury of six people will present its findings and make recommendations to the minister of justice and the chief coroner.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.