Northern Health is investigating whether a series of Facebook comments calling Indigenous people a drain on public health resources were made by one of their employees.
The comments appeared Nov. 27 on the pages of Prince George news and community groups by a user whose profile lists the Northern Health Authority as their employer.
“We are aware of the posts and we share the public’s concern about the posts,” said Northern Health spokesperson Eryn Collins. “But we have no record of anyone by this name being a Northern Health employee.”
VIDEO: Woman’s rant for ‘white doctor’ goes viral
In one of the posts, the user called Indigenous people a drain on the healthcare system, “clogging up our emergency room and services” with addictions. A separate post promoted a segregated First Nations health authority to free up doctors and nurses for non-Indigenous patients.
The user has since deleted or deactivated their profile.
“We’ve been responding to people to let them know we are investigating,” Collins said. “The first step is to find out whether this person is in fact a Northern Health employee, which at this time we haven’t found any evidence.”
Collins did not say what specific consequences a staff member would face if found to be responsible for the comments, but confirmed the remarks do violate a Northern Health code of conduct.
“I’m not entirely sure which policies would apply, but we do have policies in place around employee conduct both in person and … on social media.”
Â
quinn@terracestandard.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
