P.E.I.'s chief coroner investigating 2010 Hillsborough Hospital suicide

CBC News has learned that P.E.I.'s chief coroner is investigating a suicide which happened at Hillsborough Hospital in 2010.

The fact the suicide occurred was revealed in a recent decision by the province's Information and Privacy Commissioner, in response for a request for information on any suicides which took place at public institutions on P.E.I. between 2004 and 2014.

In response, the P.E.I. Department of Justice and Public Safety revealed there were three suicides at public institutions over that period, including two at Hillsborough Hospital, one in 2010, the second in 2013.

An inquest into the 2013 death at the psychiatric hospital concluded last week, with the jury making 14 recommendations to prevent future incidents.

When contacted by CBC News, Chief Coroner Dr. Desmond Colohan said he wasn't aware of the 2010 suicide. Colohan became the province's chief coroner in 2015.

Then Colohan wrote in a follow-up e-mail to CBC that he is now investigating the 2010 death.

"I am reviewing the sequence of events which occurred during the initial investigation of this death to better evaluate whether any additional action is required going forward," he wrote.

According to P.E.I.'s Coroners Act, an inquest must be held when an inmate or involuntary patient at a public facility dies, unless the coroner determines the death was entirely due to natural causes.

In the case of a patient who's there voluntarily, there's no automatic requirement for an inquest. However, the Act does direct the chief coroner to hold an inquest any time he or she believes one is necessary to "bring dangerous practices or conditions to light and facilitate the making of recommendations to avoid preventable deaths."

The P.E.I. Department of Justice and Public Safety has provided no further information on the 2010 suicide: whether the person was a voluntary or involuntary patient, or a patient at all; who they were; or when and how the death took place.