ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A psychiatrist has been contracted to review, from a medical perspective, the deaths of four individuals while in provincial custody in 2017 and 2018.
Eastern Health has contracted Dr. Keith Courtney, with Alberta Health Services, to do the review. Courtney is the facilities medical director for Correctional Health Services in Alberta and has more than 20 years’ experience in mental health care in correctional systems.
The contract is follow-up to a recommendation in the “Deaths in Custody Review,” looking into circumstances surrounding the deaths of Douglas Neary (Aug. 31, 2017), Skye Martin (April 21, 2018), Samantha Piercey (May 26, 2018) and Christopher Sutton (June 30, 2018). Neary and Sutton had been in custody at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s. Martin and Piercey had been in custody at the correctional centre in Clarenville.
That review was completed for the Department of Justice under the direction of RNC Supt. (Ret.) Marlene Jesso. A report was submitted to the province at the end of 2018.
Jesso’s team looked at two correctional facilities, procedures for response, staff resources and more. The final report redacted information specific to each of the four deaths that prompted the review, but it did offer to the public general statements on the correctional system and recommendations to the provincial government for follow-up actions.
The medical review is per Recommendation 17: “The review team did not consider whether the treatment provided to the four individuals was in accordance with medical standards as this is beyond the scope of the review,” it reads. “It is therefore recommended that the mental health services provided to the four individuals be reviewed by appropriate members of the medical community.”
The recommendation calls for the review of all four cases.
Medical information for all four individuals, including any mental health care while in custody, is considered private information.
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