Interior Health investigates after offensive comments found in patient’s file
An investigation is being conducted by Interior Health after a physiotherapist allegedly wrote derogatory comments about a patient in their medical file.
The patient, Robert Monroe, who is suffering from a work-related injury, discovered hurtful comments about himself when he checked his worksafe file online after his appointment with the physiotherapist at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
The comments, which described Monroe as a “Redneck hit to death uneducated” person who “seems to fear his own shadow,” and “playing the system more than he should,” were found to be offensive and derogatory.
Monroe has since filed a complaint with Interior Health, which has launched an investigation into the incident.
Interior Health has stated that the language used in the transcript is not what is expected from an employee regarding a patient or client, and they will be following up on these concerns.
Worksafe BC has also expressed its expectation for contractors to be respectful and considerate, and where the code of conduct has been breached, a thorough investigation will be conducted.
Monroe, who is already down in the dumps due to his inability to work, is seeking an apology from the physiotherapist and believes that they should lose their job at the very least.
The hurtful comments have since been removed from Monroe’s file.
