More than a year after her daughter's death at Yorkton hospital, Regina mother still looking for answers

It's been more than a year since Gwen Gilbert first raised questions about her daughter's death at the hospital in Yorkton, Sask.

Teary-eyed, Gilbert echoed the same questions at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Wednesday.

Andrea Parmar, a 50-year-old psychiatric nurse, long-term care aide and motivational speaker, was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Yorkton Regional Care Centre on March 31, 2022.

Four days later, she died of cardiorespiratory arrest and pneumonia, linked to COVID-19, said Gilbert.

Gilbert says there was a four-hour lapse between when her daughter's health took a turn for the worse and when a physician arrived at the ICU. By that point, Parmar had already died.

"We need answers. We need accountability, disciplinary actions and above all, justice, for every person in this province under our Saskatchewan health authorities," Gilbert told reporters Wednesday at the legislature, where her daughter's case was also raised during question period.

Her son-in-law, Mick Parmar, had previously taken up the responsibility for the back-and-forth with health authorities and regulatory bodies.

Now Gilbert —  whose husband, Brian, died in September this year — says she's taken it upon herself to find answers, because she doesn't want any other Saskatchewan family to face a similar situation.

The family met with former health minister Paul Merriman in May. They have also received responses from the government and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan.

However, Gilbert says, no meeting or response has given them any relief.

"There are still a lot of unanswered questions," she said. "The care she got there was absolutely, absolutely horrifying."

Andrea Parmar, a psychiatric nurse, long-term care aide and motivational speaker, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Yorkton Regional Care Centre on March 31, 2022. Four days later, she died of cardiorespiratory arrest and pneumonia, linked to COVID-19. (Submitted by Gwen Gilbert)

During the meeting with Merriman, he committed to visiting the Yorkton hospital in person as part of an investigation to "provide closure to the Gilbert-Pamar family," according to minutes from that May 15 meeting.

But Aleana Young, the NDP MLA for Regina University, where Gilbert lives, says only some questions have been answered.

She was included in a thread of responses as a result of the investigation.

In response to an question about the College of Physicians and Surgeons review of Gilbert's complaint, the organization said legislation does not allow it to release information related to a review by its committee to third parties, except in very limited circumstances.

Gilbert says the letter of review her family received from the college said the hospital had followed procedures and policy, but didn't tell her what the policies and procedures were.

"We're supposed to accept that he [the doctor] followed the policy and procedures. We have no idea what that is," she said.

Aleana Young is the NDP MLA from the electoral district of Regina University, where Gilbert lives. Young says only some questions about Parmar's care have been answered by the Ministry of Health. (Richard Agecoutay/CBC)

In a letter accessed from the Ministry of Health to the family dated June 28, 2023, which CBC reviewed, the ministry noted the family was in communication with "self-regulating health professionals who are in position to review the care provided."

"Our understanding is that there were no concerns identified in the process," the ministry's letter said.

But Young says there are concerns about what happened in Parmar's case, and it should be investigated by someone — but that shouldn't fall to her family.

"[It shouldn't be for] normal people to navigate all of these processes while they're grieving to try and find out what the policies are for regional hospitals around intubation or patient transfers, or whether or not their daughter received the appropriate level of care," Young said.

One of the changes Gilbert said she wants to see is a change in policy on how family members are notified of the death of a loved one.

She says her son-in-law should have been called immediately when Parmar's condition worsened. Instead, by the time he and her two children, ages 17 and 18, arrived, she had already died.

They were shown to the room where the resuscitation efforts had taken place — a scene Young described as "horrifying."

"The appearance that he [the doctor] presented to my son-in-law and to my two grandsons was horrific — horrifically terrible, cruel, inhumane, unacceptable," said Gilbert.

Health Minister Everett Hindley, who took on that role in August, says he has set up a meeting with the family on Thursday. (Richard Agecoutay/CBC)

Everett Hindley, who was named Saskatchewan's health minister in August, says Merriman was the lead on the file.

Hindley said he has a meeting scheduled with the family on Thursday to talk about previous responses and the questions that remain.

"If there's steps to be made, and whether it's policies to be changed or things that could have been done differently that have been identified, it's important … that is followed through upon in order to prevent such an occurrence from happening again," Hindley told reporters at the legislature Wednesday.

He said depending on the situation, he would expect answers from the Saskatchewan Health Authority and self-regulating bodies like the College of Physicians about the care provided to Parmar.

"There's a number of moving parts to this, and depending on the circumstances and the questions being raised, any number of those have been involved as part of the investigation," he said.

While she continues to push for answers, Gilbert remembers her daughter as compassionate, caring and loving, and devoted to her job as a psychiatric nurse.

"She developed multiple sclerosis in 2016. It held her back a bit, but I'll tell you, she was devoted to her job. That's who our Andrea was."