WARNING: This story contains graphic images.
The family of an 11-month-old Cree baby from Attawapiskat who died in a Fort Albany hospital in northeastern Ontario this month says he would still be alive if he had received the health care he needed and deserved.
Jake Koostachin died about five hours after his mother rushed him to the remote hospital on April 9.
Ontario’s Office of the Chief Coroner is investigating, it said in an email to CBC News.
Kelly Koostachin said her baby became ill about a week earlier and was originally diagnosed with croup during a visit to the Moose Factory hospital, at the southern tip of James Bay, on April 3.
Koostachin said her son had a cough and fever, and she had wanted to go to a mainstream hospital in southern Ontario to see a pediatrician, but decided to go to the Moose Factory hospital instead.
Six days later, Koostachin was in the fly-in community of Fort Albany, north of Moose Factory, with her son, who again had a fever, so she took him to the hospital there around 4:30 p.m.
According to the hospital’s website, it’s a single-storey building, staffed by nurses with a doctor who visits periodically in person and who is otherwise available by phone from Moose Factory on a 24-hour basis.
Waiting for the doctor’s call
In an interview with CBC News, Koostachin said she and Jake were ushered into an examination room where, after a few minutes, nurses assessed him and they were left to wait to hear from the on-call doctor in Moose Factory, which is 130 kilometres away.
“He looked sick,” she said. “He was pale, but he was alert and responsive, but gradually over the next couple of hours, he was sleeping on and off, he couldn’t get comfortable — he was just inconsolable.”
The mother and her child continued to wait for the call from a doctor.
After an hour and a half, Koostachin said, she and Jake were moved to a bed on a ward.
Then, she said, they were left alone, waiting.
“I’m trying to comfort my son and at the same time, I’m really mad that we’re just sitting here and nobody’s coming to look at us, check on us, and we’d been waiting for the doctor for hours at this point to get on the phone, and my son is just deteriorating before my very eyes.”
Koostachin said she grew frantic about waiting for the doctor’s call.
Her mother, Jocelyn Wesley, remembered how distraught her daughter was when she called her from the hospital as Jake’s condition declined.
“She kept going to the nursing station and asking them, ‘What’s going on?’” said Wesley. “They didn’t even check up on the baby.”
Wesley said her daughter recounted that the nurses were waiting for the doctor’s call.
“She was frustrated, getting mad, like any mother would go through — just begging, begging for help, and no one was coming.”
Koostachin said she made as many as three trips to the nurse’s station.
Then, around 8:30 p.m., she noticed a reddish, purplish rash spreading across her baby’s body.
Around this time, she said, the doctor in Moose Factory called, agreed that there was something seriously wrong with Jake and began discussing sending air transport to take him to a hospital with a higher level of care.
While she was on the phone, Koostachin said, she saw nurses take her baby to a trauma room.
Koostachin said Jake died a short time later, around 9 p.m., while a couple of nurses were working on him.
In a news release, the family said they were told Jake died of meningitis. It’s a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the area surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
However, in an interview later on, the family said they could not talk about the cause of death.
They said they’ve received condolences from the political organization representing many James Bay communities, Mushkegowuk Council, and from Fort Albany First Nation and their home community of Attawapiskat First Nation.
The family, while grateful for the support, said that two weeks after the child’s death, they still hadn’t heard from senior leadership with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA), which oversees the Moose Factory and Fort Albany hospitals, since the child died.
“That silence speaks louder than any statement they could have made. It shows a system more focused on protecting itself than supporting the families it serves,” the family’s news release said.
CBC News reached out to WAHA by phone and email, but has not heard back.
The family said they’ve retained a lawyer.
Federal, provincial response to child’s death
The Ontario Ministry of Health called the situation “deeply tragic, and our hearts go out to the family and loved ones impacted by this tragedy.”
A spokesperson said in a statement that the ministry expects all hospitals, under the Provincial Hospitals Act, to review critical incidents to ensure they never happen again.
“We also expect hospitals to disclose the findings from this review with the impacted patients or their family,” the written statement said.
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) did not respond to questions about the resources and staffing at the Moose Factory and Fort Albany hospitals, which are partly funded by the federal department.
It said it had offered condolences to the family and support to the community of Attawapiskat First Nation.
“The loss of a child is profoundly heartbreaking,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
ISC told CBC News that Northeastern Public Health was notified of a case of invasive meningococcal disease in Attawapiskat, and that the individual travelled to Fort Albany and Moose Factory while infectious.
The individual in question wasn’t named.
Because the disease is spread by bacteria, the department has sent out public health nurses to trace who may have come into contact with the individual and monitor reports of any new cases.
It said, so far, there had not been any other reports of illness.
Calls for improvements to health care
Community support for the family is pouring in via social media posts, with many critical of the level of care provided in First Nations along the James Bay coast.
Elizabeth Kataquapit was chief of Fort Albany from October 2022 until October 2025, and is familiar with the hospital there.
She is calling for political leaders to stand up and urge improvements to health care.
“It takes forever for us to get medical treatment,” she told CBC News.
“The way it works right now is we go to the hospital and the nurse assesses us, and the nurse then calls the on-call doctor and that takes forever. It takes like four hours, five hours, six hours, and that’s very unacceptable.”
Mushkegowuk Deputy Grand Chief Natasha Martin said she attended the viewing for Jake in Timmins on April 18 and the sight of the small white coffin has stayed with her.
“It was a very devastating loss, not only for the family, but all of the territory are grieving with them, at the loss of their baby.”
She said access to specialists, such as pediatricians, is just not there for people living in First Nations on the coast.
Mushkegowuk Council is formally requesting an inquest to examine the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death, Martin added.
The family said they welcome the coroner’s investigation, but in the meantime, are left struggling with pain and grief, and a multitude of unanswered questions.
Those seeking guidance on their health-care journey can contact Hope for Wellness at 1-855-242-3310. It’s open 24/7 and provides free phone and live online chat counselling on the website. Support is available in Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin), Cree and Inuktitut upon request.
