Inquest to examine death of Indigenous woman following hospital visit in St. Catharines, Ont.

Woodstock General Hospital in Woodstock, Ont., Thursday, May 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne

An inquest will begin next week to investigate the 2021 death of an Indigenous woman in St. Catharines, Ont., shortly after she was discharged from a hospital emergency room visit.

Heather Winterstein was a 24-year-old member of the Cayuga Nation with ties to Six Nations of the Grand River.

The Chiefs of Ontario organization says Winterstein went to the emergency department Marotta Family Hospital for a severe backache on Dec. 9, 2021, where she was given Tylenol and discharged.

It says Winterstein returned the following day, collapsed in the waiting room and later died.

Ontario’s west region supervising coroner Dr. Karen Schiff says an inquest into Winterstein’s death will begin on Monday morning.

The inquest is expected to last 13 days and hear from approximately 22 witnesses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2026.