An inquest probing the circumstances surrounding the 2012 death of an Ontario Indigenous woman is recommending stricter protocols for handling intoxicated patients.
Jurors at the inquest heard that Ina Matawapit died in police custody after being turned away from the nursing station in her home community of North Caribou Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario.
Jurors heard nurses told police to bring Matawapit back for a medical assessment only after she had sobered up from a recent bout of drinking.
The 37-year-old died of heart failure hours after she was turned away.
Jurors at the coroner's inquest in Sioux Lookout, Ont., issued 27 recommendations after hearing testimony over five days.
Among them was a recommendation to Indigenous Services Canada, the federal ministry responsible for nursing stations in Indigenous communities, to ensure that health care facilities never discharge intoxicated, unconscious patients into a non-health care setting before they've stabilized. Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to request for comment.
