Message from Ron Saddington to Staff

At the outset, let me again express my deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and members of a regional community that have received local and national media attention the last few days over an issue that implicates Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

If you haven’t heard, the story suggests that we sent a fetus in the mail to an individual in that community. This is incorrect.

Furthermore, we want to make it clear that the woman involved in this story was never a patient at TBRHSC. Instead, she was a patient at a hospital in Sioux Lookout. As well, a tissue sample that was sent to our facility for laboratory analysis contained no fetal tissue.

Some media have suggested that we returned a body, a baby, a fetus, by mail to the community. There is no truth to this. However, the media has willingly rushed to carry the story without doing due diligence, which has lead to great misunderstanding across the county.

Attached to this document is a briefing note that describes the activities around the case and the inadvertent labeling of a package that was sent to the community instead of being returned directly to the Sioux Lookout Hospital. Again, we take full responsibility for the incorrect labeling.

Many of our staff have expressed they are in disbelief, feeling hurt, and let down that journalists would rush to publish stories that are factually incorrect.

Our legal counsel is advising us on various courses of action.

In the meantime, I want to thank you for continuing to provide exemplary healthcare.