Montreal man turned away by hospital when having a stroke

MONTREAL (CityNews) – The Notre Dame hospital in Montreal, is where Sandro François says he went to 10 years ago when he was in need of urgent medical attention and was turned away. He said he was racially profiled.

“Because I’m young, I’m black and I’m imposing I wasn’t worth any tests, they just assumed I was drunk,” explained François.

He returned home to his roommates, and they rushed him to another hospital. The diagnosis – he was having a stroke.

“I went to the hospital where you’re supposed to be safe where you’re supposed to get treatment and instead of listening to what I was saying they just assumed he’s not worth the trouble.”

For almost a month, François was in the hospital and on the night he was released from the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (Neuro) he says he had a second stroke and claims he was targeted again.

“My health care card was expired and because of I want to say my skin is not the fairest skin the most popular skin, the skin colour in power, I was denied any treatment until I was able to renew my card.”

François says he almost died and was wheelchair-bound for years. Now he walks with a cane and his speech is severely affected.

He says he didn’t want to file a complaint with the hospitals until he was fully treated, but it was too late as there is a 3-year statute of limitations.

“I was worried that if they found out I was suing them. Then the treatment I was receiving would suffer.”

“Sometimes people will rationalize these types of incidents like oh maybe it was just one health care provider that was not nice. But if you think about if many, many racialized people experience similar kinds of challenges then it is no longer one health care provider who’s not doing their job right,” said Josephine Pui-Hing Wong, RN and Professor at Ryerson University.

The University of Montreal Health Center (CHUM) health network who oversaw the Notre-Dame hospital told CityNews “the CHUM doesn’t tolerate any form of discrimination. Every person coming to the emergency room, even if intoxicated, is offered medical help. No one coming to the hospital can be turned away before having seen the doctor if that is their wish.”

We reached out to the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) about the Neuro, and they provided CityNews with the following statement.

“The MUHC, with the contribution of all its community members, strives to develop a civil and violence-free work environment, where every person is treated with respect, civility and dignity.

“At the MUHC, every person who presents to the emergency department will be triaged and will be treated if they require urgent medical care.

“The MUHC accepts late complaints. We invite any patient who needs help to resolve or investigate an issue to contact the office of the ombudsman of the MUHC. Click here for more information.”

Photo of Sandro François during the Montreal Black Lives Matter Protes, on Sunday June 07, 2020. (Photo supplied by Sandro François)

François says he’s now joining the fight against racism and police brutality, and he walked alongside thousands in Montreal on Sunday, June 7.

“I have to be here, not only just cause I’m black, not only cause I suffer racism but I’m also disabled.”

“To add to the discrimination that you are submitted to every day, you have to add all those elements that come along with being a racialized person,” said Steven LaPerriere, general manager at RAPLIQ.

“We cannot continue to say this is Canada. This is only happening in the United States. Slavery never happened here. We need to come to face the histories of Canada,” said Pui-Hing Wong.

“Enough is enough… we need solidarity.”