Paul Manly, executive director of the Naniamo Unitarian Shelter and city councillor, is speaking out after a 23-year old woman who worked at the shelter named Sophia died from an infection after struggling to access primary care.
“What Sophia needed was a family doctor, who could send her to LifeLabs for a blood panel,” he said. “If that had happened, she would have been fine, she would have shifts at the shelter this week.”
Sophia, whose family asked that her last name remain private, had been on a medical leave when Manly heard from her mother in November that her daughter had died.
A statement from Island Health said that while it can’t comment on specific details due to patient privacy, Sophia had multiple patient visits, both in hospital and in the community.
Island Health said its Patient Care Quality Office has connected with Sophia’s family and will be reviewing her case to answer any questions the family has about her care.
