It is not every day that a traditional First Nations ceremony is held in Chilliwack General Hospital with a dignified procession, blanketed participants, cedar boughs, singing and drumming.
But the history-making gathering in the café at CGH on Saturday (Feb. 21) was anything but an everyday occurrence.
It was a ceremony to put things right, heal traumas of the past, and celebrate a new artwork unveiled in honour of the late Keegan Combes of Skwah First Nation.
Combes was a chess champion, a Grade 10 pianist, and a high school grad who died in September 2015.
The 29-year-old man, who lived with developmental disabilities and was mostly non-verbal was rushed to hospital by his caregiver. The records show he was tragically misdiagnosed at CGH, with what is now known to have been accidental methanol poisoning, which ultimately caused his death.
The gathering brought together leadership and staff of Fraser Health, the First Nations Health Authority, Fraser Coast Salish Health Council, CGH officials, as well as community members, and family from Keegan Combes’ home community of Skwah First Nation, all there to act in some way as a witness, as the parties reaffirmed a shared commitment toward cultural safety in the system, and reconciling some of the health-related wrongs.
The event emcee, who explained parts of the ceremony, was Sts’ailes Grand Chief Chasta Willie Charlie, also a member of the Fraser Coast Salish Health Council.
“It offers a little glimpse to see that we’re still here, that we still have our ways,” Charlie said about the ceremony at the hospital. “We still have our beliefs and our practices, to help each other.
“Today we are helping the family that’s left behind,” Charlie said about the Combes family and caregivers who were left to mourn Keegan, who was 29 when he passed.
”Today we are releasing that spirit, if you will, Keegan’s spirit, to the other side.
“While we’re doing that we’re going to educate the Fraser Health Authority so others don’t have to experience what he went through.”
The ceremony for Keegan at CGH on Feb. 21, which would have been his 40th birthday, was described as a ‘reconciliation gathering’ by organizers.
A new uplifting artwork by Carrielynn Victor, went up inside the hospital featuring warm tones, an upward trajectory of the lines, and the eagles that Keegan so loved during his lifetime.
The painting is meant to replace the metal artwork by Francis Horne Sr. which was installed in 2019 and then strategically removed from outside the hospital last year.
The latest ceremony, constituted a second attempt to make right of some the health-care related wrongs and to do it once again in ceremony since the initial promises were also made in ceremony.
Alisha Peters, Skwah councillor and member of First Nations Health Council member said among the messages that family would like to share was to “remember Keegan’s story, not his pain.”
The plaque next to the new artwork states that what happened to Keegan ended up being the catalyst for Stólō and Coast Salish leaders to press for a wholesale transformation of the health system, taking it from “a sickness model to a wellness model of care.”
Keegan’s story has already had its transformational aspects, including being used as the basis of the Fraser Health accord, and a case study in Combes’ name that now helps medical students at the university level.
Grand Chief Doug Kelly spoke about how he and Grand Chief Willie Charlie and others were present for the original deliberations about transforming the medical system, and honouring the promise with an artwork based on the pledge to improve the health system.
“Promises made,” Kelly bellowed. “Ask yourselves, have you kept your promises? You know what the answer is. I’m not asking you for answers. I’m asking you to think about it when you leave here. There were big promises made. Big promises. Why? So it doesn’t happen again.”
Kelly suggested it’s still happening.
“Not just here; but elsewhere in the system.”
The grand chief, who was the former chair of the Fraser Coast Salish Health Caucus, pointed out that the Combes family has effectively healed in the years since Keegan’s death.
“The family’s healed. The people here have not healed,” he offered, adding that the re-installed plaque was written with words he helped craft with the family and the FHA.
The plaque reads:
“In Keegan’s memory the Fraser Salish Health Caucus leadership will work with the board and seniors executive team of the Fraser Health Authority to transform the care provided to all.
“In his memory we will work together to ensure that all peoples from all places and all races will be provided the highest quality of care that is respectful of all cultures and beliefs.”
A top hospital official spoke about the significance of the gathering and called it a “reminder” about what Keegan’s story can offer.
“For us, this is not just a ceremony,” said Kristy Eckland, director of clinical operations for CGH.
She called it a reminder.
“His story teaches us what must transform in our system, and so that other families don’t experience the same harm and difficulty that his family has endured. As leaders and staff in this hospital, we hold a direct responsibility to ensure that health care is safe, respectful, and grounded in cultural humility, especially for Indigenous children and families.”
Eckland added: “This work is not easy, but it’s necessary.”
A case study Remembering Keegan was conducted by FNHA in 2022.
“Telling Keegan’s story is important as a way to bear witness, document culturally unsafe encounters within the health care system and contribute to changing the system to prevent similar deaths or harm in the future,” a section of the study reads.
“Keegan’s legacy has been to help shape the Cultural Safety and Humility transformation that is currently underway in B.C.’s health system.
The FNHA and other boards “recognize the importance of enhancing access to culturally safe, quality health care that affirms First Nations cultures, rights and identities, in tandem with addressing systemic racism in the health care system.”
“While he is gone, he will be remembered.”