Castlegar cancer survivor alleges unsafe Kelowna hospital stay after surgery
Published 5:40 am Monday, September 21, 2026
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A Castlegar breast cancer survivor is sharing some very personal information in the hopes that no one else will have to go through the things she experienced during a stay at Kelowna General Hospital.
In October 2022, 47-year-old Leslie Crusch discovered a small lump in her right breast.
She was nervous, but with no family doctor, wasn’t sure where to turn.
Thankfully, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Crusch heard repeated commercials on the radio promoting mammograms. Each time the advertisements were aired, she felt they were speaking directly to her and called to make an appointment.
Six months later, following the mammogram and a biopsy, Crusch was given the diagnosis no one ever wants to hear – the small lump she had found was cancer.
But the good news was it was discovered early and was just Stage 0.
By the end of April 2023, she had surgery to remove the lump and began radiation treatments shortly after.
The treatments were hard, but Crusch eventually bounced back and became an avid self-examiner.
“I was obsessively checking,” said Crusch.
That’s how she discovered a new lump in June 2025.
Doctors told her the lump was too small to biopsy, so they decided to wait a few more months to repeat imaging tests.
The second set of tests now showed two lumps.
The stress and emotional roller coaster of three years living in constant fear of the cancer returning had taken its toll and Crusch made a drastic decision.
“I am done – I want a double mastectomy,” she told her doctor.
She also opted for a DIEP reconstruction, which uses your own skin and fat tissues to create new breasts.
The surgery was scheduled for April 2026, about 10 months from the time Crusch discovered the second lump. Three weeks before the big day, she received a call cancelling the surgery.
Aug. 12 was offered as the next surgery date, more than a year after the lump discovery.
The surgery day finally arrived and Crusch spent 10 hours in Kelowna General Hospital’s operating room. But shortly after the surgery was complete, a complication arose when it was discovered that blood was not flowing properly in the reconstructed area. She underwent another four-hour surgery to correct the problem.
Crusch spent three days in ICU before being sent to the surgical recovery ward.
But it was there in the recovery ward that Crusch says the worst parts of her ordeal took place.
On the fifth morning after her surgery, Crusch says she awoke to discover a male member of the hospital’s cleaning staff staring at her genitals.
Due to the nature of her surgery, multiple incisions and the need for six drainage ports, Crusch was not wearing clothes and was simply covered with a small blanket which she thinks had become dislodged while she slept.
“I was completely exposed,” said Crusch. “I watched as his eyes raked up my naked body until our eyes met. I was frozen in fear.
“Once our eyes met, he jumped and left the room.”
Crusch said she called a nurse and told her what had happened. The nurse sympathized with her and then left.
She expected some sort of follow-up, but instead, the same man entered her room a while later to complete the cleaning job.
“I was so uncomfortable and just terrified that no one cared about the earlier assault,” said Crusch, who now doubts that the incident was properly reported.
Later the same day, a new roommate was assigned to the other side of the room’s curtain.
Crusch said the man appeared to be intoxicated and would later learn, by overhearing conversations between the man and his doctor, that he tested positive for a number of different drugs and was continuing to drink alcohol while in hospital. He had not undergone surgery, but was on the surgical ward anyway.
“I’m still upset that he was brought into my room, knowing that I was helpless and completely naked except for my bandages,” said Crusch.
Earlier in her life, Crusch had gone through an abusive experience involving a man on drugs, and knowing that there was nothing but a curtain between her and someone using substances brought back her old trauma and added to her terror.
“Later that day, he had a visitor and they laughed and joked about how easy it was going to be to sell their drugs because no one would suspect a patient getting visitors,” said Crusch. “I pretended I was asleep as they counted out $600.”
Crusch wanted to tell a nurse what was going on, but knew the roommate could hear every word.
She finally decided to ask a nurse to take her for a short walk, thinking she could then report what was happening.
She says she tried this tactic on several occasions over several days with nurses saying they would come back when they had time, but no one ever returned for a walk. So Crusch felt helpless and unable to report the situation.
Crusch says the roommate became more agitated and aggressive, even to hospital staff, the longer he was in hospital.
Random people would stop by to see him for short visits, and his phone rang all the time.
Crusch says she only slept when the roommate slept because “that was the only time I felt safe.”
On the third day of sharing a room with the man, Crusch reached her breaking point. She called her husband, who was back at home in Castlegar working to pay the bills, and begged him to come pick her up as soon as possible.
She left the hospital days earlier than planned, and against medical advice, because she was terrified of her roommate.
“Once the staff started refusing to help him, they should have asked me if I felt safe,” said Crusch. “But no one cared about my safety. No one cared that I signed myself out when I could barely even walk.”
Crusch wants to see action at the hospital starting with the firing of the member of the cleaning staff.
But she also wants to see policies that ensure patient safety and include asking the patients if they feel safe.
In response to a Castlegar News inquiry about the allegations, Kelowna General Hospital’s executive director Megan Legason said, “Every patient deserves to feel safe, respected and treated with dignity while receiving care.
“We take these concerns seriously and are committed to understanding the patient’s experience while in care.
“We are currently reviewing the concerns raised, and our Patient Care Quality Office will work directly with the patient and their family to address them following the review.”
Two days following our inquiry, the hospital did reach out to Crusch.
Legason also said Interior Health already has “clear policies and processes” in place to respond to substance-use situations including:
• Prohibiting illicit drug use in patient rooms and on hospital property.
• Having staff processes in place to support a safe response to concerns, with appropriate supports engaged when needed to protect patients, families and staff.
• Making security and other supports available when substance use creates a safety concern.
But Crusch says she did not see any of these enacted during her stay.
A month post-surgery, Crusch is now recovering physically, but still struggles to sleep and has anxiety every time she has to go to a hospital appointment as the memories come crashing back.
“Everyone has their own recovery journey and they shouldn’t have to worry about how it is affecting other people,” said Crusch. “But when my recovery journey collided with my roommate’s recovery journey – my recovery journey was no longer a recovery journey. Mine was – I am frightened, I am scared, I am traumatized.”
In spite of all she has endured, Crusch is still sticking to the main message she has been spreading for the last three and a half years: “Get a mammogram, early detection is key.”
Follow her journey on Facebook at Jack’n Jill or check out the GoFundMe set up on her behalf.