Inquest called into Iqaluit woman's death

Nunavut's coroner has called an inquest into the death of an Iqaluit woman who was removed from the local hospital and taken into RCMP custody earlier this year.

Elisapee Michael, 52, died of head injuries on Aug. 13, four days after she fell down the front stairs of the Nova Hotel in the Nunavut capital.

She was rushed to the Qikiqtani General Hospital, then was put in a police detachment cell for about 14 hours before she was brought back to the hospital and laterflown to Ottawa.

No date has yet been set for the inquest, but chief coroner Tim Neily said it will happen in Iqaluit sometime next year.

"That's going to depend on availabilty of the courtroom here in the courthouse and the availability of witnesses," Neily told CBC News. "We will come out with a date a little further down the road."

Neily said a coroner's inquest is mandatory in Michael's case because her detention by police could have played a role in her death.

Probe hospital decisions

The inquest is also expected to look at decisions made at the hospital.

According to Michael's family, she was initially taken by ambulance to the Iqaluit hospital shortly after her fall. However, she was put into RCMP custody after hospital staff claimed she was intoxicated and disruptive.

Health officials cannot discuss specific cases, but say staff generally try to calm down agitated patients before calling hospital security.

"Then if people are really getting out of control, they'll phone the RCMP," said Dr. Sandy MacDonald, the Nunavut government's director of medical affairs.

MacDonald said police try to control the patient, then take him or her into custody if they cannot do so. But before that patient is put in custody, medical staff make an assessment.

"What they would do is focus on the things that are critical, do the best assessment possible, and then defer the rest," MacDonald said.

According to Michael's family, police wanted to return her to the hospital after she had spent 11 hours in custody, but hospital staff allegedly said they were too busy to receive her.

She was eventually brought back to the hospital, then was flown to Ottawa, where she died of her injuries.