Leaders of William Osler Health System are apologizing to a Sikh man and his family after staff at a Brampton hospital shaved his facial hair without permission.
President and CEO Dr. Frank Martino, as well as Board Chair and Treasurer Pardeep Singh Gill, released a joint statement on Wednesday admitting to the hospital network’s failure to uphold cultural care practices, more than one month after it received backlash from the family and Canadian institutions for violating the man’s religious beliefs.
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“We take full responsibility for this incident and have extended our deepest apologies to the patient and his family. We also want to extend our apology to the Sikh community and the exceptional culturally diverse community that we serve,” the online statement said.
“The distress this incident has caused the patient, the patient’s family, and the wider Sikh community – including our own workforce – has profoundly affected us as an organization and beyond.”
William Osler says though it can’t undo what has already been done, they are committed to making changes to prevent further incidents like this. However, the health network did not expand on what these changes will look like.
In September, the World Sikh Organization (WSO) reached out to William Osler on behalf of the man’s family. In a news release, WSO identified the man as Joginder Singh Kaler, and said staff at the Brampton Civic Hospital “forcibly shaved” him while he was unconscious and unable to consent for himself.
In Sikhism, shaving or cutting hair is prohibited as a mark of respect for God’s gift of Kesh (hair). As Kaler is a practicing Sikh, he had reportedly never shaved or cut his beard in his life prior to the violation, the WSO said.
WSO has since acknowledged William Osler’s apology, saying that it is appreciative that the network has accepted full responsibility and is pledging to be more respectful of patients’ religious and cultural identities. The organization had begun closely working with William Osler since Kaler’s incident, advocating for the rights of Sikh patients and urging for concrete changes.
“The WSO will remain engaged with William Osler Health System and the broader community to ensure that meaningful changes are implemented and that healthcare providers across the country are equipped with the resources and education necessary to meet the needs of Sikh patients and others from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds,” the organization said in a statement on Wednesday.
