Searching for answers

A hospital in Burnaby is facing tough questions after releasing a depressed patient who took his own life only an hour later.

Kim Young told CTV News she dropped off her son Eddie, 38, at Burnaby General Hospital on Monday after he came home looking distraught and confused.

She took him to the ER and asked he see a psychiatrist. She said Eddie suffered in the past from anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

On Wednesday, he was discharged, went to a bridge near the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain Station in Vancouver and jumped.

“He’s been threatening to kill himself, I told them. He’s been telling me he wants to die,” Young told CTV News.

She now wants to know why he was released.

Young said she repeatedly made one request to staff: “Please, if you’re going to release my son, please give him to me.”

That never happened.

“They might as well have just gave him a ticket and sent him to the bridge to jump ... In my eyes, that’s what they did,” she said.

The Fraser Health Authority told CTV News it’s launching a review into the death.

The health authority said treating potentially suicidal patients is one of the most complex and difficult aspects of health workers’ jobs.

Dr. Victoria Lee, Chief Medical Officer for Fraser Health, offered condolences to Young.

“It was a tragic event that happened and our care team is also deeply affected by the events that have unfolded,” Lee told CTV News.

“Health care providers come to the hospitals, community clinics day-to-day to help people, and they are dedicated.”

About the discharged, she said staff will “follow the patient’s wishes in terms of discharge planning.”

The findings from the review will not be publicized, but will be shared with Eddie's mother.

– with files from CTV Vancouver