Psychiatric care in Quebec needs more compassion, says coroner investigating woman's suicide death
CBC
WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, see the end of this story for resources.
Psychiatric practices in Quebec are in need of a major overhaul, according to findings following a coroner's public inquiry into the death of Amélie Champagne, a young woman who took her life after battling both Lyme disease and the province's public health system.
In a report published on Wednesday, coroner Julie-Kim Godin issued 19 recommendations to Quebec's Health Ministry, the Quebec College of Physicians and other groups representing health-care professionals in the hope of protecting young women and other patients.
In 2022, Amélie's death gained national attention after her father Alain Champagne — the CEO and president of the Jean Coutu Group, a chain of Quebec pharmacies — made the announcement in a LinkedIn post.
In an interview with radio host Paul Arcand on 98.5 FM at the time, he revealed that his daughter Amélie suffered from significant sleep disorders, auditory hallucinations. He said her personality had changed weeks prior to her death.
After a suicide attempt at the family's cottage in the Eastern Townships, he said his daughter was taken to Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Sherbrooke.
While there, Amélie was put under observation for three days and two nights on a stretcher in the hallway. But staff reportedly told the family that she could not be treated in Sherbrooke because she did not live in the region. They said she had to be transferred to Notre-Dame Hospital in Montreal.
Her father said hospital staff told him her situation had stabilized and she did not represent a danger to herself.
But Amélie had the right to be treated in Sherbrooke.
"In Quebec, every user has the right to consult at the location of their choice," Godin, the coroner, told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.
Amélie took her life on Sept. 11, 2022 — just a few days after being discharged from Hôtel-Dieu.
Her three-day stay at Hôtel-Dieu and her death followed what her father described as years of bouncing around from one health-care professional to the next, hoping to receive proper care — a reality the coroner highlighted her report.
"Her story sadly illustrates the phenomenon of revolving doors in Quebec's psychiatric emergency departments, and the undesirable effects that ensue," wrote Godin in the report.
Godin's report states this "period of medical wandering" fuelled Amélie's distress.
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