Hearing tribunals for two healthcare workers who are accused to have failed to provide adequate care to an Indigenous woman at the Hanna Health Centre in December 2020 have been closed to the public.
The disciplinary hearings, which are being overseen by the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA), were scheduled to be held virtually between March 22 and 24; the Mail received notice the hearings would be closed to the public on Monday, March 20.
“A written decision of the Hearing Tribunal, including the reasoning for the closure, will be made public when it is complete,” CRNA Hearings Director Amy Payne stated in the notice.
The hearings are in relation to the death of Lillian Vanasse at the Hanna Health Centre in December 2020.
Ms. Vanasse, who was of Ojibway Indigenous descent, was transported to the Hanna Health Centre by ambulance on the evening of Christmas Day 2020.
It is alleged the healthcare workers “failed to demonstrate adequate judgment” and “adequate professionalism” while caring for Ms. Vanasse, and “contributed clinical bias” through discussions with the attending physician regarding a previous emergency room visit by Ms. Vanasse.
This is alleged to have resulted in a lack of adequate care for Ms. Vanasse, which ultimately led to her death in the early morning hours of December 26, 2020.
Ms. Vanasse’s widower, Cory Ashley, filed a complaint against the two healthcare workers with CRNA in the days following his wife’s death.
Hearing tribunals were originally scheduled for September 2022, but were rescheduled less than two weeks before they were to begin, and were rescheduled until March 2023.
There is no timeline on when the written decision will be issued, though this information will be available to the public and posted to the CRNA website.

A Drumheller man pleaded guilty to uttering threats after an altercation at a local grocery store.
Richard Wheeler, 60, appeared in provincial court in Drumheller on Friday, March 24 to make his plea. He maintained a not-guilty plea to assault with a weapon, but plead guilty to uttering threats.
The court heard how on August 24, 2022, Dale Goulder, manager at Freson Bros. confronted Wheeler at the store regarding a prior incident where it was believed Wheeler had shoplifted. When confronted, Wheeler brandished a knife and threatened Goulder.
The altercation was captured on store security cameras.
Defence for Wheeler told the court on a previous day he had misplaced his wallet and had dumped out his backpack searching for it.
When he was putting his items back into his backpack, it was perceived he was stealing.
On the day of the altercation, he said he was confronted by four other people.
Wheeler was given a suspended sentence with 12 months probation.