Free to all, accessible to some
By John Mohan

Until last Monday, hardly anybody knew who Brian Sinclair was. Neither did they care.

A double amputee and solvent abuser, he was one of those homeless people of our city that few saw and that no level of government is willing to assume meaningful responsibility for.

Downtown businesses complained about him. Passersby mocked and swore at him as he panhandled. Pastors never talked about him in their pulpits. Churches, temples, mosques or synagogues did not offer him shelter on cold winter nights. No party leader or level of government talked to or about him. Until last week, that is, when his tragic and unnecessary death made international headlines. Brian was used to being misunderstood because of his speech impediment. He was also used to not being noticed because he was homeless. He was somewhat of an introvert. Whenever he came to Siloam Mission, staff and volunteers took the initiative to ensure any of his needs were addressed; otherwise, he'd "suffer in silence." Siloam's Director of Patron Services Theresa Saunders said, "Brian was one of those people who could easily fly under the radar because he was so quiet." Arriving at the monstrously complicated maze called the Health Sciences Centre (HSC), he would have expected the normal wait time of six, eight or 12 hours that everybody endures.

One Siloam Mission shelter staff member was referred to HSC following an accidental laceration with a used potentially HIV/Hepatitis-infected razor blade. She waited six hours to be seen regarding possible post-exposure prophylaxis despite her protest of the urgency of the matter and that Siloam's nurse practitioner phoned HSC in advance. During these hours she was never advised as to how likely it was or was not that she had contracted a virus nor given any information that might have put her more at ease while waiting to see a professional.

The stories of HSC and other emergency wards go on and on. In Sinclair's case, a six-hour wait became 12 hours which became 24, which became 30 -- even though there are claims that hospital staff were informed on two or three occasions of his presence in ER. After 34 hours, he was found dead by a private citizen. Manitobans and Canadians pay higher taxes than anyone else in the western world, in large part to fund our public health care system which is only comparable to the Cuban and North Korean systems.

It is passionately defended by advocates and politicians alike because we want low-income people to access health care without the risk of personal bankruptcy. But with long waiting lines, depleted medical staff, systems designed to serve institutions instead of the needy and bloated bureaucracies, this was bound to happen.

It was only a matter of time. In a Washington, D.C., restaurant conversation this summer, I told someone where I was from. They mentioned how they admired our free health care system. I responded that being free doesn't do you any good if you can't access it. I was thinking of long waiting lines, never imagining the very people it was designed to protect sometimes can't even access health care when they're actually inside a hospital. This can't be what the late Tommy Douglas, architect of Medicare, had in mind.

Somebody once said, "Hindsight is 50/50". We'll see if that's the case as we look back on this tragedy.

Originally printed in The Winnipeg Sun October 1, 2008.
Reprinted with the permission of Sun Media Corporation.