Manitoba health officials admit racism in care of Indigenous man who died of cancer

CBC

7 hours ago

A Manitoba health authority has admitted an Indigenous man, who died four months after a delayed confirmation his cancer had returned, was subject to racism while seeking treatment.
Stephen Rockwell's mother, Leona Massan, said hearing that from health officials in July provided a "tiny bit of peace," but it doesn't undo the pain of a health-care system that brushed her son aside during three straight visits to Thompson's hospital in late 2023.
He had "tumours all over the place" once the CT scan was finally completed, Massan said.
"And these guys here at Thompson General Hospital, they just made him suffer."
Rockwell, who worked as a community safety officer in Thompson and dreamed of becoming a police officer, was a "big goofball" who enjoyed making people laugh, his sister Stacey Rockwell said, but by early 2023 he wasn't acting like himself. And his flu-like symptoms weren't letting up.
He was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. After receiving chemotherapy, he entered remission in the summer.
But by October, Stephen's health started to fail.
He was going cross-eyed, which a doctor chalked up to stress from fighting cancer.
Stephen complained of severe back pain, which led to medication being prescribed, but nothing more.
Stacey Rockwell said a medical professional accused her brother, who didn't use drugs, of only visiting the hospital to get drugs.
"He was treated like, 'You're a drug-seeker,'" like "any other Indigenous [person] off the street," she said, referring to a common stereotype Indigenous people endure.
"That narrative was placed on him, which is wrong."
His family argues medical staff dismissed a patient with serious pain who deserved regular monitoring because complications from a cancer diagnosis are possible.
With nowhere else to turn, Massan took her son to a chiropractor, who noticed a mass in his spine and hip. The chiropractor wrote a letter that day requesting Thompson's hospital conduct a CT scan.
At first, a physician at the hospital scoffed at being asked to follow a chiropractor's recommendation, Massan said.
"And I said, 'Excuse me, it says doctor in front of [his name], too,'" she said.
Stephen was quickly given a CT scan that identified tumours in his spine, hip, stomach and the left side of his back, Massan said, and then was rushed to the CancerCare facility in Winnipeg.
He underwent an aggressive chemotherapy regime and a stem cell transplant — the latter at Stacey's urging — but they came up short.
He died on March 13, 2024, four months after the return of his leukemia was confirmed. He was 33.
"I always think about what-ifs," Massan said.
"What if they would have listened to us? What if they would have given him treatment faster?"
She's certain racism contributed to the medical treatment her son received.
Her son would have agreed, Massan said. He once asked the doctors to treat him like everyone else on the ward, she said.
At one point, her son turned to her and said maybe she shouldn't have accompanied him to hospital.
That's because his Cree mother looked more Indigenous than him, and maybe that impacted the way he, a member of Shamattawa First Nation, was treated.
"You know how much that hurt?" she said, looking down. "Still hurts today.
"Maybe I shouldn't have went with him to the hospital. Maybe they would have treated him better."
When her children were born, she decided to give them their Irish father's surname. She thought it might spare them from the racism she experienced.
It's heartbreaking that it didn't, Massan said.
In July, she called Manitoba Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara's office to again voice her concerns, which led the Northern Regional Health Authority to meet with Massan later that month.
Over the course of their three-hour meeting, officials admitted Stephen received racist treatment while accessing health care, Massan said.
Asagwara, who says systemic racism exists in the health system, commended Northern Health for acknowledging that racism occurred in this case.
"Now we have to do the work of unpacking that and making sure it doesn't happen moving forward," Asagwara said.
A "cancer diagnosis is challenging for anyone," the minister said. "Adding experiences of racism into that health-care journey is really just unfair."
Massan said she originally sent a letter to Asagwara's office in November 2024, but the province said last month it has no record of that correspondence.
Northern Health said in a statement it remains committed to eliminating all forms of Indigenous-specific racism. The authority signed a declaration to that effect in 2022, which included a promise of more education for staff around anti-racism, cultural proficiency and Indigenous cultural safety.
In June, the province released a report that found people of colour, including patients who identify as Indigenous, generally spend longer in Winnipeg emergency department waiting rooms than white people.
While Massan has requested another meeting with Northern Health to discuss next steps, her family is meanwhile learning to adapt to life without Stephen, who they say was a loving father and husband.
His mom still glances at her phone, waiting for his text or call.
His sister Stacey struggles to accept that her decision to donate stem cells to her little brother wasn't enough to save his life.
And his three children are left wondering, particularly his youngest daughter, now four years old, who thought a recent visit to the hospital was a chance to see her dad again.
"When her mom walked in with her, she perked right up — 'Are we here to see Daddy? Are we going to visit Daddy?'" Stacey Rockwell said.
"And that's heartbreaking, because she doesn't understand."
Health officials in northern Manitoba say Stephen Rockwell, who was Indigenous, faced racism while seeking health care in the final months of his life. His family says while the admission brings them some peace, it doesn't excuse what happened.