Remembering Brian Sinclair: What His Story Asks of Us

Today marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a time to listen, learn and reflect on the history and ongoing impacts of colonialism in Canada. For those of us working in healthcare, it is also a time to consider how that history continues to shape experiences within our healthcare system and our responsibility to help create a system where everyone can access safe, respectful and equitable care.

At Amplify Care, we believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard and treated with dignity when they seek care. Reconciliation challenges us to consider what that means in practice, particularly for Indigenous peoples who continue to experience the impacts of systemic inequities and racism within healthcare.

In Honour of Brian Sinclair

Brian Sinclair was a 45-year-old First Nations man and double amputee living in Winnipeg. In 2008, he went to the emergency department at Health Sciences Centre with a note from a community clinic explaining that his urinary catheter was blocked. He entered the emergency department and waited for care.

Video footage shows that Brian remained in the waiting room for approximately 34 hours without receiving appropriate medical assessment or treatment. During that time, numerous people saw him, and other patients raised concerns about his condition. He eventually died there from complications associated with the blocked catheter. The Manitoba inquest concluded that the acute condition that caused his death was completely avoidable and made recommendations intended to reduce the likelihood of a similar tragedy occurring again.

The inquest into Brian’s death found that medical staff made a range of assumptions about why he was in the waiting room: that he was intoxicated; that he had already been discharged and had nowhere to go; that he had already been triaged and was waiting for a bed in the treatment area; or that he was homeless and seeking shelter from the cold. These assumptions, and the circumstances surrounding his death, prompted important questions about emergency department processes, patient flow and communication, and most importantly, about how Brian was perceived while he waited. His story has also become part of the broader national conversation about anti-Indigenous racism and systemic inequities in Canadian healthcare, and sadly, his story is one of many. Learn more here.

Listening to experiences that challenge our assumptions

Last week, our Amplify Care team came together for a three-hour town hall focused on growth through learning and reflection. Jodi Rock, Indigenous Health Liaison, shared personal experiences, told the stories of Brian Sinclair and other Indigenous patients who died in hospitals under similar circumstances, and spoke openly about how long-held, systemic stereotypes can influence the care Indigenous peoples experience and receive.

Hearing those experiences firsthand allowed our team to look beyond the policies and processes we often focus on when we talk about improving healthcare. It reminded us that the experience of care is shaped not only by what a system is designed to do, but also by the biases that can influence how people are perceived and treated as they move through that system. These assumptions can be deeply rooted and difficult to recognize, particularly when they have become normalized over time. They can affect how a patient’s concerns are interpreted, how their needs are understood and how quickly they receive appropriate care. These biases can also become embedded in the technology and processes that support healthcare delivery if we are not intentional about identifying and addressing them.

For our team, the conversation reminded us that improving healthcare requires more than developing better digital tools or more efficient processes. It requires us to understand the experiences of the people those systems are intended to serve.

A commitment to Brian and others like him

For Amplify Care, our commitment begins with continuing to learn from Indigenous partners, healthcare teams, patients and communities. This means seeking to understand the histories, cultures and experiences that shape their relationship with our healthcare system while examining the unconscious biases and assumptions we may bring to our work. Meaningful change requires both listening to others and being willing to examine ourselves. By bringing that learning into the tools we deploy and the approaches we develop, we can work toward healthcare solutions that are more respectful, inclusive and responsive to the people and communities they are intended to serve.

Our dedication to this work is, in part, in honour of Brian and others like him whose experiences remind us that people can suffer needlessly when systemic racism and inequity persist within healthcare. We cannot change what happened to Brian, but we can allow his story, and the lived experiences of those who continue to face barriers and inequities within our healthcare system, to shape how we approach the work ahead.

That is a responsibility we carry with us on September 30th and every day throughout the year.