A Metro Vancouver ER doctor has filed a Notice of Civil Claim (NCC) against her employer, Fraser Health Authority, to advocate for improved working conditions in the B.C. health care system and at the hospital where she works.
Kaitlin Stockton works at Eagle Ridge Hospital (ERH), and to say there’s never a dull moment in her line of work is an understatement, especially considering some of the realities she and her colleagues deal with, as detailed in the court documents.
Stockton is advocating, pushing, and hoping for better conditions for patients who wait hours for care. The situation reached a breaking point last November, stemming from a sign posted at the hospital.
“Things had been deteriorating in terms of working conditions,” she told Daily Hive, adding that substandard care was becoming more normalized or accepted.
“That was obviously quite disturbing and distressing to all of us.”
The controversial sign
Jacki Bostock/Facebook
According to the NCC, on Nov. 18, 2024, ERH was facing critical overcapacity and resource shortages. The claim states that Stockton and her colleagues were unable to deliver safe and timely care to patients with critical illnesses.
The NCC notes that physicians asked to offload admitted patients to different areas of Eagle Ridge, cancel elective surgeries, call a Code Orange and divert ambulances. All of those requests were denied.
Stockton was seen putting the sign up on CCTV, and even though she didn’t write the sign herself, most of the blame seemed to be directed at her, according to the NCC claim.
After obtaining the footage, FHA’s vice president of medicine contacted ERH’s medical director, “who then called Dr. Stockton to tell her that FHA executives were ‘extremely angry’ and falsely alleged that by posting the sign, Dr. Stockton was ‘misinforming the public’ and in breach of the Canadian Medical Association’s Code of Conduct,” the NCC states.
Needless to say, Stockton found the response quite upsetting.
Stockton says she was called and told that she had lied to the public by posting that sign and that her hospital privileges and medical licence could be at risk if she didn’t apologize and admit wrongdoing.
“It all felt very wrong, and I just couldn’t believe it. I mean, I was reeling from the trauma that I experienced that day and the anger and the hurt from that dismissive statement that Fraser Health put out.”
ERH’s medical director also threatened to file a complaint against Stockton through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, according to the NCC.
Stockton, who has a small family, had to attend disciplinary hearings and hired a lawyer despite being told she didn’t have to. She said that Fraser Health didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing.
“It kind of blew my life apart.”
Violence in B.C.’s health care system
The NCC notes several instances of doctors being verbally and even physically abused. The NCC even notes one occasion when a pitbull attacked a health care professional.
There have been seven notable instances of violence within the last six months that the NCC highlights. The NCC says that two days after the sign was put up, on Nov. 20, 2024, an ER patient assaulted an ER nurse at Eagle Ridge. The nurse was left with a dislocated jaw, a concussion, and PTSD. The NCC states that the nurse has been unable to return to work.
On Dec. 15, 2024, another ER nurse and ER physician were attacked by a patient at Royal Columbian Hospital. They tried to call for help, but no security personnel responded until after the nurse was assaulted “because they were short-staffed.”
The nurse was off work for months.
In one case this year in January, the NCC says that a patient came to Eagle Ridge with a machete and threatened to kill ER staff. The nurse who was directly threatened suffered severe mental harm and was also off work for months.
Stockton was involved in a situation involving a machete herself. On Jan. 21, 2025, she was assessing a fully clothed patient who was agitated and in possession of a machete when he was picked up by ambulance. She asked hospital security to check for weapons, but she was told they weren’t authorized to do so, so she and two female nurses had to do it themselves, even though they felt unsafe.
“They literally just stood in the corner and watched us,” she told Daily Hive.
We asked Stockton what good the security personnel are if they have to be hands-off, and she said she wasn’t sure.
“They can call the police sometimes on our behalf.”
Stockton referenced an incident that occurred in a Halifax hospital involving a knife. Soon after that incident, metal detectors were installed in that hospital.
This connects to a key point brought up in our conversation with Stockton, and it relates to B.C.’s push for recruitment, which Stockton believes should not be the sole focus of the Ministry of Health’s efforts.
Recruitment? What about retention?
B.C. has made a significant effort to recruit more health care professionals, even attempting to attract American health care workers. We asked if she had a message for Jodie Osborne, B.C. Minister of Health.
“Focusing efforts on recruitment is missing the point. We are losing our talented, experienced, locally-trained frontline providers by the boatload. We cannot retain the workforce we already have, so why focus on bringing in more people who are just going to leave?”
She doesn’t deny that recruitment is important, but the ER doctor thinks the province should focus on retention in the health care system right now.
“Who’s going to want to work in the workplace where you’re attacked by machetes and pitbulls? Where you don’t have the resources to do your job? We don’t have beds to put patients in. We don’t have otoscopes. We don’t have security. How can you recruit people to work in that workplace?”
She told Daily Hive that 50 per cent of the people she came into the industry with are no longer there, citing burnout as a primary factor.
We asked Stockton about the push to bring American workers over to B.C.
“They have metal detectors in every emergency department [in America]. They’re paid way more,” she said.
“We do tend to have lower wages than the rest of the country, and the cost of living is very high, so that’s part of it too.”
She added that certain safety items that B.C. could bring into our hospitals don’t cost a lot of money and referred to them as low-hanging fruit. Even just being comfortable with speaking up about issues relating to safety and being supported, according to Stockton, doesn’t seem to be a reality.
“If they had simply just treated me with respect instead of a common criminal, I wouldn’t be wanting to file a lawsuit against them.”
If you want to speak up about the issues you’re seeing in health care, Stockton encourages you to contact your local MLA. She also advises that if you have a bad experience, raise your concerns with the hospital administration, but be kind to your frontline providers.
“I think we need to be loud about this. We definitely need the public’s help.”
While Stockton is still working at Eagle Ridge, her employment was constructively dismissed “as a direct result of FHA’s failure to comply with its legal obligation to provide Dr. Stockton with a workplace free from harassment and bullying.”
She doesn’t believe she’ll be working there much longer.
“The ball is in their court,” she added.
In terms of relief, the NCC notes that Stockton is seeking $350,000 for wrongful dismissal, representing her wages over a 12-month period, as well as punitive damages of $250,000.
The BC Society of Emergency Medicine has issued a letter of support reflecting on Stockton’s situation:
cSBC stands in full support of the BC Society of Emergency Medicine and their recent letter addressing systemic issues in emergency care. We echo the call for a safe, respectful, and accountable environment for all healthcare providers.#SpecialistCare #EmergencyMedicine… pic.twitter.com/8pTA7TegeN
— Consultant Specialists of BC (@SpecialistsBc) June 10, 2025
Fraser Health told Daily Hive it doesn’t comment on matters before the courts. Meanwhile, the B.C. Ministry of Health is working on a response but has missed Daily Hive’s deadline. We’ll add the ministry’s response when we hear back.
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