Judge Certifies Class Action Involving Mental Health Centre

A New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench judge has certified a class action over alleged abuse, neglect and mistreatment at the Restigouche Hospital Centre.

Koskie Minsky LLP filed the suit against the province and Vitalité Health Network on behalf of patients at the mental health centre in Campbellton since 1954.

The firm said in 2019 that it was seeking $500 million in total damages on behalf of the former residents.

In announcing the certification on Friday, lead counsel James Sayce said the allegations in the case are “very serious.”

“This ruling will allow for current and former residents to have their day in court. Perhaps most importantly, this decision opens the door to improving the allegedly abhorrent conditions at the Restigouche Hospital Centre,” Sayce said in a statement Friday.

The lawsuit was launched after a scathing report released by New Brunswick’s ombud in 2019 outlined “mistreatment and inadequate care” of patients at the centre.

Charles Murray called on the province to shrink the mandate of the institution and look at closing a number of units in light of chronic understaffing.

“Far from being its intended centre of excellence, the Restigouche Hospital Centre has reverted to an antiquated model of a mental institution operating largely to warehouse New Brunswick residents with serious mental health issues,” said Murray at the time.

An external advisor hired by the province to review the ombud’s report recommended keeping the centre open but accelerating changes needed to improve the facility’s safety and quality of care.