Barton Jail Inquest

An inquest into eight inmate drug deaths at the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre continued Wednesday with a focus on health care inside the jail.

Marty Tykoliz died of an overdose four years ago when he was an inmate at the Barton Street Jail

The 38 year old was taken to hospital in May 2014, was saved by Naloxone and sent back to jail

The inquest heard he should have been taken back to hospital when symptoms of an overdose returned but instead Marty was found unresponsive in his cell hours later.

The jail is supposed to be staffed around the clock with a nurse but that doesn’t always happen. The health care services manager says sometimes when inmates are returned from hospital there are no nurse to assess them.

The city’s Opioid crisis has impacted the jail. Right now Sergeants are the only ones that have access to Naloxone and front-line staff are being trained to administer a nasal spray version of the overdose antidote.

The inquest has heard that the jail is overcrowded. There’s a culture of drug use and a lack of programming and resoucres.

“It means people in these environments who sometimes need more healthcare than people in the community are not getting the access to the treatment and resources that they need.” this according to Lawyer and Prison Advocate, Vilko Zbogar.

The inquest is looking at the cases of eight inmates who died in the jail between 2012 and 2016. Since those deaths there have been at least five “undetermined deaths” that are also suspected to be drug overdoses. The inquest which has faced many delays since it was first announced in 2015 is expected to last six weeks and hear from more than 100 witnesses.

The inquest continues Monday with an expert panel presenting pathology and toxicology evidence.