An inquest has been announced into the death of a 24-year-old woman who went to hospital in St. Catharines, Ont., with back pain, then died.
On Dec. 9, 2021, Heather Winterstein went to the emergency department at St. Catharines General Hospital for a severe backache, her family told CBC Hamilton shortly after her death. Earlier that week, she had fallen down stairs at her father’s house, where she was living, and was in a lot of pain, her mother said.
Less than 48 hours later, she died.
On Wednesday, Dr. Karen Schiff, Regional Supervising Coroner, West Region, Hamilton Office, announced that an inquest will be held into Winterstein’s death.
Her family said back then, Winterstein was initially sent home with Tylenol but returned to hospital the next day, only to collapse in the waiting room.
Her mom, Francine Shimizu, who said she was listed as her daughter’s emergency contact, told CBC Hamilton she was called to the hospital at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2021.
She said she arrived to learn that medical staff had been trying to resuscitate Winterstein and walked in as they were doing chest compressions. Fifteen minutes later, her mother said, she was pronounced dead.
Shimizu said Winterstein had been there for some time. She wondered why she wasn’t contacted sooner, she said.
Family members say they were told by the local public health unit that she had died from a Strep A blood infection. They were given the news when they were called for Strep A contact tracing after her death.
“She was so loving, she was so giving,” Shimizu said, adding that Winterstein was working to complete her high school diploma and hoped to study nursing. She loved animals and liked to draw. “She didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
Shimizu, who is a registered nurse and has worked in long-term care, said previously that a better level of care should have been provided for her daughter.
External review was conducted
In January of 2022, Niagara Health officials said “an internal quality care review is underway to fully understand the patient’s experience, and the family will be involved in this process.”
In a statement to CBC back then, Lynn Guerriero, Niagara Health president and chief executive officer, said she was “deeply troubled” by the concerns raised about the death.
She said the review, which took place in January and February of that year, “identified some opportunities for improvement to help us provide the best possible care for everyone, particularly during times of overcapacity and health system pressures.”
Guerriero didn’t share the recommendations, but said Niagara Health was reviewing how its emergency department works, and how it identifies and supports patients from equity-seeking groups. She also said she has spoken to Winterstein’s family and would talk to Indigenous leaders in the community.
Shimizu wondered if her daughter’s Indigenous heritage could have been a factor in her care.
“They may not have identified her as that, however the fact of the matter is that she is Indigenous,” Shimizu said.
While Winterstein has Indigenous heritage — her mother says Shimizu and her sister were adopted when they were young and reconnected with family on Six Nations of the Grand River in the 1990s — it is unclear if hospital staff knew that.
CBC did not review any documents related to the family’s history.
A press release from the Ministry of the Solicitor General this week said that “the inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding Ms. Winterstein’s death.”
The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing further deaths, it said, and that details about the date and location of the inquest would be provided at a later date.
“I don’t want somebody else’s child looking for help… being alone. God… it just kills me,” Shimizu said in 2022. “It just kills me to know that she was suffering.”