Winnipeg woman alleges HSC staff negligence led to ‘severe injuries’ after being let out of psychiatric unit

WARNING: This story contains details about suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

A Winnipeg woman is suing Health Sciences Centre and a psychiatrist alleging negligence on the part of staff after she was permitted an unaccompanied leave from the psychiatric unit and tried to kill herself.

She and her husband are suing HSC, a doctor and Shared Health, which co-ordinates health-care delivery in the province, for damages associated with an incident that happened two years ago, while she was admitted to hospital, and which left her with “severe injuries.”

“The plaintiff’s psychological recovery was prolonged by the incident, resulting in further damages to the plaintiff including damages related to her pain and suffering, loss of the amenities of life, mental upset, psychological distress, continuing and worsening depression, and significant impacts on her relationships with her family,” according to a statement of claim filed in Court of King’s Bench on Sept. 17.

On Sept. 2, 2023, the woman attempted suicide and was taken to Health Sciences Centre emergency department, according to the statement of claim. She received treatment for injuries and was admitted to a trauma surgery unit hours later. A health care aide was appointed to stay by her side as a precaution.

The woman agreed to be admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit and requested to be placed at one at Victoria General Hospital as it was smaller, closer to home and easier for family to visit. She was instead transferred to a psychiatric unit at HSC, known as PY2, the lawsuit states.

She was prescribed antipsychotics and other medications as part of her treatment. Through the course of her stay in PY2 she shared with staff about times where she was experiencing suicidal ideation, according to the statement of claim.

It states the woman received community passes that allowed her to leave, in the presence of her husband, for between an hour and five hours. 

The woman was then advised to do bilateral electroconvulsive therapy, which involves inducing seizures for therapeutic purposes by stimulating the brain while under general anesthesia.

The woman says she expressed reservations but ultimately went through with it. She also agreed to go on an anti-depressant at the time.

She received ECT treatment three times in mid-September 2023. When she emerged from general anesthesia, she was generally confused, groggy, “flat in her affect and speech, with limited range of expression,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that after her third session, the morning of Sept. 20, 2023, the psychiatrist overseeing her treatment permitted her to leave for 15-minute unaccompanied walks, and one-to-four hour solo leaves from the facility.

This change from accompanied outings allegedly wasn’t communicated to her husband before staff signed the woman out on her own. She left shortly after her third ECT session and failed to return, so a police report was filed.

The next day, she was found lying in the street, having been hit by a vehicle after another suicide attempt, the lawsuit states.

The statement of claim suggests she suffered lacerations to her face, road rash and bruising across her body, a fractured pelvis and clavicle, a fractured orbital bone and rib fractures. She required a chest tube due to a collapsed lung as part of recovery.

Critical incident

The incident triggered a critical incident investigation at HSC that was to begin in fall 2023, according to the lawsuit.

She and her husband maintain they reached out to HSC patient relations nearly a dozen times between when the investigation began and when the final report with recommendations was completed April 2025.

They say they were told staffing changes and administrative delays were responsible for the process taking as long as it did.

“The plaintiff and her next of kin had to request acknowledgement of the harm done in the form of an apology,” the lawsuit states.

The woman and her husband allege her psychiatrist was negligent in her duty to care — namely, because the woman was permitted to leave unaccompanied the same day she underwent an ECT session and then again attempted suicide.

Failing to notify her husband of the solo leave, not honouring the initial request to be placed at a psychiatric unit closer to home at Victoria General Hospital, and failing to adequately monitor changes in the woman’s suicidal ideation are other reasons listed in the lawsuit against HSC, Shared Health and the psychiatrist.

The couple is seeking undisclosed financial damages, changes to protocols related to patient monitoring and same-day unaccompanied passes for patients who have just received ECT, and ensuring broader policies are imposed guiding when unaccompanied passes should be granted, including in cases with patients who’ve “recently attempted suicide and had expressed continuing suicidal ideations” while in psychiatric care.

“The plaintiff states all of these damages were foreseeable as a result of the defendants’ aforesaid negligence,” the statement of claim reads.

The couple also wants improved standards for communicating developments to patients during critical incident investigations as well as after recommended changes are put in place.

A spokesperson from Shared Health declined to comment while the case is before the courts.