Mixed messages from Sask. Health Authority frustrate family of homicide victim Richard Fernuk

Leah Howie and Lindsey Dahl know exactly what happened after St. Paul's Hospital discharged their 68-year-old father at 3:40 a.m. CST on Aug. 2, 2019.

Richard Fernuk was killed.

A 37-year-old Saskatoon man has since been charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Trying to find out what happened before Fernuk's discharge is frustrating his daughters.

For the past 15 months, Howie and Dahl have tried to find out how Fernuk asenior with a heart condition, mental illness and no car got released into one of the city's most dangerous neighbourhoods.

They've met with hospital staff, seen his charts and been provided a chronology of events. But they say that they still don't know the reasoning behind his release, or whether a review of the chain of events has led to any changes.

"It is our impression that due to Richard's difficult behaviour caused by his mental illness, at some point during his stay at St. Paul's Hospital he was no longer viewed as a mentally-ill senior citizen in need of assistance," said Howie.

"Instead, he began to be viewed as a nuisance who needed to be removed from the hospital as soon as possible."

Correspondence from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has featured contradictory messages about whetheran internal safety review on the care afforded Fernukhad been completed.

A letter to Howie and Dahl from the SHAdated Oct. 13, 2020, says "that [safety] review was completed and deemed to not meet the legislative criteria for a reportable critical incident."

But an email to CBC on Nov. 3 offers a different message.

"When complete, the safety review report will be made available to the family," said Petrina McGrath, executive director of Quality and Safety.

A difficult patient

Dahl said that her father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in August2004. Both sisters said that he could be very difficult to be around during his manic and depressive episodes.

"During these episodes he behaved erratically and made poor decisions," she said.

"Throughout July 2019, Richard was descending into a manic state."

• Surveillance video shows Richard Fernuk and accused killer together near St. Paul's Hospital: Sources

Fernuk arrived by ambulance at St. Paul's just before midnight on Aug. 1, 2019. He had collapsed with chest pains while visiting a friend's apartment. He used nitroglycerine to alleviate his chest pains while on the way to the hospital and, according to information provided to his daughters, he almost immediately requested to be sent home.

The hospital wanted to run tests to make sure that he hadn't suffered any damage to his heart.

"An entry into his chart at 11:20 p.m. notes that 'the patient is potentially violent.' A subsequent entry into his medical chart at 11:30 pm notes that the 'patient is rude with EMS and staff.' At 12:22pm, his chart indicates that he is intoxicated," Howe said.

"A further entry around the time of his arrival at SPH notes that 'Patient is demanding and unco-operative and as such has been deemed incompetent and held in the ED for medical care under the substitute decision maker act.'"

Connecting the dots

The test results returned negative no damage to his heart so, four hours after arriving, Fernuk was deemed sober and healthy enough to be discharged. He told staff that he had a ride arranged with a friend.

Security did not know that in his confused state he had given his friend the wrong hospital.

"Security has advised us that they did not wait to ensure that his ride was there and that they did not wait to watch to see if his ride would arrive," Howie said.

"Security staff were not asked by the physicians or nurses who had treated Richard to ensure he found his ride home. He was not invited back into SPH to wait for his ride."

Howie said she's concerned that no one connected his behaviour with his mental illness.

"At no point during Richard's time at SPH was any type of mental health assessment completed, despite his agitated and disturbing behaviour and despite his detention for treatment," she said.

The larger concern

Dahl said dealing with the health system has been a frustrating experience and she worries for other families with vulnerable members.

"We ideally would like there to be a look at what happened. Not just to acknowledge what happened to my dad, but also just generally for the general public. It's a concern to me that people can be discharged from the hospital whether it's a 80 year old grandmother with dementia or in our case, our dad with a mental illness that they can be discharged in the middle of the night," she said.

"And there's no, I guess, just care for their well-being and ensuring that they can get home."

Police arrested Leo Roy Danielsin relation to Fernuk's death and charged him with first-degree murder, robbery and unlawful confinement. The 37-year-old has been committed to stand trial in 2021.