Feb. 23, 2022: First Nations Health Authority – FNHA today announced the public release of its report titled “Remembering Keegan – a BC First Nations Case Study Reflection”. Keegan Combes was a 29-year old First Nations man who died in hospital in 2015 following delayed diagnosis and clinical management of a treatable accidental poisoning.
“Remembering Keegan” is part of ongoing anti-Indigenous racism actions in BC’s health care system that includes a number of other reports, reviews, recommendations and the formation of a provincial task team. It is also a tool meant to inform and guide the pursuit of definitive change and to support the establishment of a cultural safety standard within the health care system.
First Nations have a deeply rooted culture and tradition of storytelling as one of the ways of passing on knowledge. Storytelling is a traditional method used to teach about cultural beliefs, values, customs, rituals, history, practices, relationships, and ways of life.
First Nations storytelling is a foundation for wholistic learning, relationship building and experiential learning. This Case Study Reflection is a narrative tool for health professionals to learn from and to reflect on the personal and systemic biases that shape their practice, and to encourage conversations leading to safer health care environments and experiences for First Nations and Indigenous people, so that what happened to Keegan never happens to others.
A first of its kind report produced by the FNHA, Remembering Keegan provides an in-depth look at the different paths that could have led to culturally safe care, offers clear examples of what Cultural Safety and Humility should look like, and how it could have contributed to a different outcome. The report also explores intersectionality, the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, abilities and gender, encountered by BC’s frontline healthcare workers in the care of their patients.
Loved and remembered by many, Keegan Combes was a local chess champion, grade ten piano player, and high-school graduate living with developmental disabilities.
In the aftermath of the incidents leading to his death, Keegan’s family, the BC Coroners Service, Fraser Health, and the FNHA committed to working together on building a better health care system to deliver culturally safe and equitable services to all Indigenous people in the Fraser Salish region. A plaque and artwork in Keegan’s honour were unveiled at the hospital during a ceremony on the fourth anniversary of his passing. You will find the Healing Hands of Friendship Commemorative plaque outside of the Chilliwack General Hospital affirming this first ste of commitment.
Keegan brought together Stó:lō and Coast Salish leaders to transform the health system from a sickness model to a wellness model of care. He is a transformer stone for the region. Telling Keegan’s story is important as a way to bear witness, document culturally unsafe encounters within the health care system, and contribute to changing the system to prevent similar deaths or harm in the future. Keegan’s legacy has been to help shape the Cultural Safety and Humility transformation that is currently underway in BC’s health system.