Ontario nurse believes she was fired for slamming health unit’s referrals to clinic with anti-abortion ties | CBC News

A veteran Chatham-Kent Public Health nurse has been fired, and believes it was because she spoke out against the southwestern Ontario health unit’s connection to an anti-abortion service provider.

Carolyn Martin was terminated last month, roughly a week after speaking with CBC News about CK Public Health listing Refuge as a resource for women and families. The private organization, founded by Right to Life Kent, is run by a director with “pro-life” views, facts that aren’t always clear to pregnant teenagers and adults before entering.

Martin, a CK Public Health nurse for 20 years, disagreed with the health unit’s affiliation with Refuge, saying she felt compelled to speak out after trying to effect change internally for years.

Officially, the 54-year-old lost her job because she didn’t provide a sick note, according to emails from a human resources officer. But Martin believes her termination is linked to her going public about her opposition to some CK Public Health policies.

She said she doesn’t regret her decision to speak out.

“Maybe there will be change. Who knows,” said Martin. “But I won’t be there to see it if it happens and I’m OK with that.”

April Rietdyk, chief executive officer of CK Public Health, said the organization will continue its relationship with Refuge and other organizations that may have views on certain subjects such as abortion. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health nurses provided breastfeeding classes inside the Refuge building.

The vast majority of places in Chatham-Kent that help marginalized and vulnerable people are faith based, Rietdyk said. The health unit provides women and families with a list of those places, and she said they don’t direct people to specific ones.

She said CK Public Health doesn’t “take sides on any political agenda” and it’s the health unit’s responsibility to “provide services where those services are needed.”

However, the health unit’s list doesn’t let people know what organizations have anti-abortion connections.

“Let’s give women some credit that they are able to navigate and make those choices,” said Rietdyk. “I think you’re underestimating the in-depth assessments that happen between the nurse and those families.”

Refuge’s website doesn’t make any specific mention of its anti-abortion connections. Someone would have to arrive at the front door to see Right to Life Kent and Life in Motion signs attached to the building. Life in Motion’s website says it stands for “defending pro-life” and “there is no protection for the unborn.”

Martin in ‘impossible situation’ when terminated

Martin said she felt strongly about speaking out against all of this, but believes her firing put her in an “impossible situation” she couldn’t avoid.

She said she received an email at 6:34 p.m. on Dec. 15 saying she required a medical note for absences that exceeded three days. Martin said she called in sick before the start of each scheduled shift she had. and since she was a part-time worker, she wasn’t getting paid for those days.

The next day, at 9:47 a.m., Martin received an email from a human resources officer saying she was being “discharged” from her employment for failing to provide medical documentation.

“I was blown away because I could have gotten a doctor’s note. That’s not impossible. The timeline she gave me, impossible,” said Martin.

In addition, Martin said, she received a text message from her manager that a medical note was not required.

CBC News has viewed all of the emails and messages in relation to Martin’s termination.

Health unit charging teens for birth control

Rietdyk told CBC News she was unable “to discuss any employee-related issues” due to privacy concerns.

In addition to being concerned about CK Public Health’s relationship with Refuge, Martin spoke with CBC News about the health unit charging teenage girls for birth control.

The province provides birth control for free for those under 25, and other area health units don’t charge young people for the pill. CK Public Health says the $10 charge helps cover the full cost of the drug, and it doesn’t charge teens who can’t afford it.

But Martin and a teen who spoke to CBC News said that’s not always true, and young people without jobs have been asked to pay the $10 per pack.

Refuge website scrubbed after CBC inquiries

CBC News first asked CK Public Health about its relationship with Refuge on Nov. 29 at 11:39 a.m. About 20 minutes later, a health manager emailed staffers telling them to “remove all mention of Refuge on our website. This needs to be done today.”

CBC News obtained these emails through a freedom-of-information request. They show that by 12:09 p.m. the same day, a CK Public Health’s public relations officer sent another email with the subject line “emergent request” indicating she wanted to “scrub the site of the mention of Refuge.”

Rietdyk said her team wanted to remove everything related to Refuge, as it contained outdated content, and eventually republish with current information.

She said it wasn’t an attempt to cover up anything or mislead the public.

“My understanding is the communication team felt there may be some other older documents in here [and] how long would it take to find all of those, other than — what they say — scrubbing that whole group of them and then rebuilding afterwards.”

Community support helps nurse feel ‘validated’ 

For the last 30 years, Martin has been a registered nurse. During her time at CK Public Health, she worked with teenagers and young moms.

“I do know that I’ve made a difference in teenagers’ lives,” Martin said. “I do know that. They tell me that. I tell them how important it is for me to make that difference.”

Martin said she’s been overwhelmed by positive responses from the community, including teachers, current and former health unit employees, as well as young adults she helped as teens.

“It was really special. It did get me emotional,” said Martin. “It made me feel validated that they came out and expressed support for me.”