Former Nunavut nurse Debbie McKeown may be no-show at inquest into baby's death
Coroner unable to locate nurse who allegedly refused to treat Makibi Timilak the night he died
One of the people who could most shed light on the health care received by baby Makibi Timilak before he died may not testify at a coroner's inquest in Nunavut next week.
A nurse at the Cape Dorset health centre allegedly refused to see three-month-old Makibi Timilak when his mother called the night of April 4, 2012, to report he was ill. The boy later died. A Nunavut policy requires that nurses see babies under a year old who are sick.
Deborah May McKeown, the nurse who allegedly refused to see the sick infant, cannot be located, according to coroner's counsel.
Garth Eggenberger, the coroner presiding over next week's inquest, had issued a summons for McKeown to appear as a witness.
"We've completed all of the necessary legal steps to have Ms. McKeown come to Cape Dorset and testify," said lawyer Amy Groothuis.
"At this point we haven't been able to locate her and serve her with the summons that coroner Eggenberger had issued but we still hope to reach her."
Groothuis said the summons and the court documents accompanying it spell out that McKeown's testimony can't be used against her in Nunavut.
"The idea of a coroner's inquest is that it is fact-finding, non-adversarial and there can be no findings of fault or liability," she said.
Other witnesses involved in the baby's care or who responded the night of his death are expected to testify, including other nurses and RCMP officers stationed in Cape Dorset at the time. The pathologists who investigated the baby's cause of death are also expected to testify.
Groothuis said she and Eggenberger will be at the community hall on Monday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. to answer questions about how the inquest will work. She said counsellors will also be available during the inquest.