Heather Winterstein at high risk of facing layers of ‘biases’ when seeking health care, Ontario inquest told – CBC

Apr 15, 2026

‘We often assume the worst about Indigenous patients,’ Dr. Suzanne Shoush testifies in St. Catharines

Heather Winterstein was an Indigenous woman facing several personal obstacles, factors that raised her risk of having a bad outcome in the health-care system, the Ontario coroner’s inquest into her 2021 death in hospital was told.

Dr. Suzanne Shoush, a family physician who examines the experiences of Indigenous people trying to access care, was asked Tuesday to speak at the inquest to help jurors understand how “biases” and stereotypes affect the health-care system.

Winterstein, 24, died from sepsis, an extreme reaction to bacterial infection that damages the body’s own tissues and organs, on Dec. 10, 2021 — her second consecutive day of going to the St. Catharines hospital’s emergency department to seek care for body pain from a fall.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/indigenous-heather-winterstein-inquest-9.7163850