A group of parents has planned a vigil that aims to draw awareness to mental health.

On Wednesday (September 7), they will gather outside of a B.C. Coroners Service courtroom in Burnaby where an inquest is scheduled to begin that morning.

“B.C. families who have lost a loved one because of mental illness will be gathering to honour their loved ones, raise awareness of these deaths, and call for improvements in the mental health system,” reads a September 6 media release.

The coroners inquest was convened to investigate circumstances surrounding the deaths of three individuals who all died shortly after leaving Abbotsford Regional Hospital over a four-month period beginning in December 2014. The deceased—Brian Geisheimer, Sebastien Abdi, and Sarah Charles—were admitted to the hospital, which is operated by the Fraser Health Authority, for mental-health issues.

According to Fraser Health, during the 2013–14 fiscal year, its 12 hospitals throughout the Lower Mainland saw 30,305 emergency mental-health visits.

In Vancouver in 2015, the number of emergency mental-health visits to Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital together surpassed 10,000. That’s up from 6,520 in 2009.

The Straight has reported extensively on such cases. Beginning in September 2014, it ran a six-part series that explored how police officers have increasingly come to serve as the first point of contact a person has with the health-care system while experiencing a mental-health crisis.

Part of that series focused on fatal interactions with police. An analysis of B.C. Coroners Service reports dating from 2007 to 2014 found that during that period, there were 99 deaths where police or RCMP were present. Officers shot a person in 33 of those cases. Seventeen deaths in police custody involved a mental-health issue, 59 involved substance abuse, and at least 13 involved both drugs and a mental-health component.

That is, of 99 police-involved deaths investigated or scheduled for investigation between 2007 and 2014, 90 percent involved a mental-health component, substance abuse, or both.

The media release sent out in advance of the September 7 vigil focuses on the related topic of B.C. Coroners Service recommendations made in response to deaths involving the health-care system.

“The families will be calling for greater accountability in implementing the recommendations that are issued by coroner’s inquests with a particular focus on increased family involvement in care plans and improved information sharing,” reads a September 6 media release for the vigil.

“Families who have lost someone because of mental illness are encouraged to come with a photo of their loved one. Anyone who would like to support these families is also welcome.”

The vigil is scheduled to begin on Wednesday (September 7) at 8:30 a.m. outside the B.C. Coroners Service building at 4720 Kingsway in Burnaby.