Violent Waterford assault that led to murder charge is shocking, but 'not entirely surprising,' CMHA says
CBC
The violent death of a Waterford psychiatric hospital patient has shed light on "major systemic issues" that need to be resolved in Newfoundland and Labrador's mental health system, an advocate says.
Thomas Parsley, 30, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of a fellow patient at the Waterford. Police said a "serious assault" occurred last Thursday, and the injured man, 66, later died.
When she heard the news, Chandra Kavanagh said she was deeply saddened for everyone involved, but said "there are ways in which these kinds of incidents can be predicted."
"Yes, it's shocking, but in some ways not entirely surprising when our system has been under so much strain and our mental health as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians has been under so much strain," she told CBC News Monday.
Kavanagh said she wants to known what policies were in place to keep everyone safe in the situation, and whether they were followed.
She said violence in the mentally ill community is rare, but added the health-care system needs to be questioned so violent incidents can be prevented.
Parsley, whose charges were upgraded on the weekend following the death of the 66-year-old man, appeared briefly again in provincial court in St. John's on Monday. The case was set over until Dec. 30.
Parsley had been sent to the Waterford for a psychiatric assessment after a court appearance last week.
Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services is investigating.
Kavanagh said pointing fingers is not the key to preventing tragedy.
The key, she said, is change.
With the new adult Mental Health and Addictions Centre on the way in St. John's, Kavanagh said action needs to be taken at the community level before relying on a new building to solve problems.
She said the incident needs to be investigated and shared with the public so solutions can come to light.
"The impacts of something like this are incredibly far reaching," Kavanagh said. "It impacted everyone involved in this situation, all of the healthcare personnel, family members, friends.
Two days before Christmas, people hauled their belongings out the doors of a central Edmonton apartment building, piling up suitcases and laundry baskets full of clothes and shoes on the slushy sidewalk.
As people gather with family and friends over the holidays, some tenants of a subsidized housing building in Kelowna, B.C., say they have been scattered and forgotten after their homes were deemed unsafe due to ground settling linked to a UBC Okanagan construction site just metres away. When Hadgraft Wilson Place opened 18 months ago, it was intended as a permanent home for individuals with low incomes and physical or mental disabilities.
Friendship is at the heart of everything the small staff does at Helping Hands Street Mission in Hamilton, and the organization's executive director says the need for it is especially important over the holidays.
Maryanne Kenny's father passed away when she was four, without ever knowing he was part of Caldwell First Nation. It was a journey to make the reserve her home.
A northwestern Ontario township and its mayor have filed a notice of application for a judicial review of a recent human rights decision made over the township's refusal to declare June as Pride Month.
Before the Toronto police board voted to approve a $46.2-million budget increase request for next year, a police director explained that case closure rates have dropped for most crimes since 2015.
A Kitchener thrift store that helps survivors of domestic violence is picking up the pieces, yet again, after they were broken into for the third time this year.
He's not deterred by wind, or snow, or rain, and he doesn't file a flight plan, but that doesn't mean Santa is undetected as he journeys around the globe delivering gifts.
The board of a Toronto-area condo is reversing course on an order that forced a disabled woman with a service dog to register with the property manager every time she wanted to visit the building, where her mother and sister live.
The chief of Toronto's paramedic services says the city is dealing with a "concerning number of sick calls" and more staff refusing to work overtime after paramedics voted against ratifying a new collective agreement last week.
As they deal with the added demand that comes with frigid temperatures, Ark Aid Street Mission staff are also working to move their overnight resting beds away from the business district of Dundas Street East.