What is the central issue in the B.C. Supreme Court trial regarding MAID?

The trial focuses on patients being transferred out of faith-based facilities in their final hours to access medically assisted dying (MAID).

How are faith-based facilities addressing MAID access for patients?

Some faith-based facilities require patients to transfer out to access MAID, while new 'adjacent spaces' are being constructed to facilitate MAID provision.

Which health region in B.C. sees the most MAID transfers due to facility policies?

Over 80 percent of MAID transfers, specifically due to facility policies, occurred within the Vancouver Coastal Health region in 2023 and 2024.

Home / Health / B.C. Court Hears Faith Hospital MAID Transfer Case

B.C. Court Hears Faith Hospital MAID Transfer Case

31 Jan

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Summary

A B.C. Supreme Court trial centers on patient transfers for medical assistance in dying.
Faith-based facilities are challenged for requiring patients to move for MAID.
Adjacent spaces for MAID are being created to resolve facility access issues.

A legal challenge is underway in the B.C. Supreme Court concerning patients' final hours and transfers from faith-based facilities to access medically assisted dying (MAID).

Key to the trial is the distance patients must travel for MAID if their chosen facility prohibits it. For instance, in April 2023, Samantha O'Neill's mother was transferred by ambulance from St. Paul's Hospital to a Vancouver Coastal Health hospice 25 minutes away because St. Paul's, operated by Providence Health Care, does not allow MAID.

Subsequent to these events, the B.C. Ministry of Health directed Providence to transfer leasehold interests for lands adjacent to St. Paul's. This enabled Vancouver Coastal Health to construct a dedicated MAID facility, known as the Shoreline Space, connected to the hospital by a corridor at a cost of $2.75 million.