Canadian Lawyer InHouse

35 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2016 P r o f e s s i o n a l P r o f i l e IN 2013, when heroin addicts participat- ing in a clinical trial at St. Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver were denied access to prescription heroin by Health Canada once they left the trial, the hospital's opera- tor, Providence Health Care Society, joined five patients in deciding to bring a Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenge, claiming the addicts' rights to life, liberty, and secu- rity of the person were infringed upon. Providence Health Care is Canada's larg- est Catholic-operated health-care organiza- tion operating 16 health-care facilities in Greater Vancouver. One of the key figures in the decision to launch the legal action was Zulie Sachedina, who has been Providence's vice president of human resources and general counsel for the past 15 years. "It was not something that an organization such as ours does lightly," she says of the Charter challenge. "We're a large health-care provider and want to stay on the right side of our funders and govern - ment. But this became an ethical issue for the organization." A temporary injunction granted in 2014 by the B.C. Supreme Court has allowed St. Paul's to continue providing prescription heroin. "The legislation hasn't been over - turned, and we don't know how the new [federal] government will address this issue," says Sachedina. "Also, the study that is the foundation of this work is un- dergoing review." The case is "a little bit in limbo" until the study's final results and the Trudeau govern- ment's position becomes clear. While the prescription heroin case was tough for Sachedina, it's certainly not the only difficult one she has managed. Like any large health-care provider, Providence has to deal with occasional disputes over the withdrawal of life sup - port, parental opposition (on reli- gious grounds) to necessary medical treatments for minors, and lawsuits for alleged malpractice and negli- gence. Those kinds of issues eventu- ally come to Sachedina and the risk manager who reports to her. In such fraught situations, she brings together the medical per- sonnel, the affected families, and Provi- dence's ethics department. "I would not typically take on such a case by myself," she says. "This is an area where I would bring in external counsel and possibly the public guardian. Typically, it's the mediation com - ponent [that I provide]. We've not actually had to go to court. Most of the times, it's families acting in grief, and it's been re- solved [without litigation]." A notable exception was the case of for- mer patient Michael Jason Paur. In Septem- ber 2015, the B.C. Supreme Court found St. Paul's Hospital negligent in failing to prevent the 36-year-old patient from attempting sui- cide in 2011. The court ordered St. Paul's to pay more than $390,000 in damages to Paur, who suffered a brain injury while trying to hang himself in a hospital bathroom. He was supposed to be closely watched by ER nurses at the time, the court found. St. Paul's is insured by B.C.'s Healthcare Protection Program. Providence's in-house legal team had to "make sure that witnesses and records were available," says Sachedina. Public sector legal warrior Zulie Sachedina was first lawyer to take on general counsel role in B.C.'s health-care sector. BY SHELDON GORDON The legislation hasn't been overturned, and we don't know how the new [federal] government will address this issue. ZULIE SACHEDINA, Providence Health Care '' ''

• Cover