Nurse demands action after homeless couple attacked
TORONTO, ON--Two hospital security guards have been fired for beating a homeless couple after staff at Sanctuary street mission took the victims' cause to the CBC.
Cliff Hussin and his wife Donna Oakes were drunk when they entered St. Michael's hospital to visit a relative. The aboriginal couple alleges that security guards shouted racial slurs and kicked Hussin unconscious. He was later treated for three broken ribs and a punctured lung at a different hospital.
Oakes called Keren Elumir, a nurse at Sanctuary, to ask for their help.
"They were angry and scared," Elumir says, "They wanted somebody who would help them challenge what happened to them."
Doug Johnson Hatlem, a street pastor with Sanctuary and Mennonite Central Committee, says they have documented several attacks on the homeless by security personnel at St. Michael's and elsewhere. But while violence is all too common, it is very rarely reported, he says.
"[The victims] fear retaliation," Johnson Hatlem says, "and that they will be doubly singled out in future. They fear they will not be believed and that nothing will be done about it because of collusion between security and police. [This incident] is part of a much wider problem with the way the security personnel, both private and public, treat the homeless. We've gone to our local police division over and over, both formally and informally, and have gotten nowhere."
"Whenever we had tried to make any complaint with St. Mike's in the past, nobody had responded," Elumir says. "I find it morally repugnant that this kind of brutality could take place in a hospital--they need to be safe for the most vulnerable of people.
"This particular guy, and many others, can exhibit very out-of- control behaviour when they are drunk. But we've escorted them out of our building without hurting them, or even touching them. If we can do that--and most of our staff are volunteers--why can't hospital security?
"If their staff does not know how to deal with mentally ill or addicted folks they need some training, because these will not be the last loud, out-of-control people in their hallways."
Elumir and Johnson Hatlem decided to go to CBC to back up Hussin and Oakes. After Elumir told CBC reporters how the hospital had ignored charges of abuse in the past, the hospital announced it was launching a "comprehensive investigation."
St. Michael's later issued a formal apology to Hussin and Oakes, fired two staff members and initiated sensitivity training for its security guards.
"I don't think it would have happened unless [Hussin and Oakes] had assistance," Elumir says, "There's credibility as professionals. Our voice is listened to."
Elumir and Johnson Hatlem were pleased with St. Michael's response.
"The CEO of St. Mike's [Jeff Lozon] has gone out of his way to take this seriously, and I am quite convinced that nobody will be beaten at St. Michael's hospital again for quite some time," says Johnson Hatlem.
"I think they genuinely care organisationally. They're just sickened by thinking that this would happen at their hospital. They have a real heart and a real reputation for doing good work with this community."
The apology also meant a lot Hussin, says Elumir. "This has also been a positive thing for him--to have people hear him, believe in him, and stand with him in saying that what happened was not acceptable.
"The apology from St Michael's was big for him. I don't think he's ever been apologized to by anyone in authority for anything that has happened to him. It has been a motivating factor for him to continue pursuing help and treatment."
But while the hospital responded positively, CBC's website was flooded with comments from ordinary Canadians accusing Hussin and Oakes of bringing the violence on themselves.
"There were a lot of racial comments," Elumir says, "It was so disturbing. I couldn't believe the number of people who said: 'you can never trust a drunk native person' and 'what do you expect?'"
She believes Christians have a social responsibility. "I strongly believe as Christians it is important to be a voice for the voiceless," she says. "Even if nothing is accomplished at the end of the day, there is something so vital and healing that somebody listened--that somebody believed them."
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