Nurse says she’s still haunted by neglect she witnessed at long-term care home during pandemic’s first wave

MONTREAL – It was one year ago that nurse Loredana Mule walked through the doors of a private seniors’ residence in Dorval, then called Herron, to volunteer at the start of the pandemic. She quickly realized the situation there was dire.

A year later, she says the neglect she witnessed behind these walls still haunts her.

CityNews brought you Mule’s story last April when she first sounded the alarm over the alleged horrors at Herron where at least 38 residents died during the first wave of the pandemic.

She said staff abandoned their posts and residents were left in their excrement for more than a day.

“The incontinence, the smell of the rooms, the receiving of zero care, [was shocking]” she said.

“When I got into my car, I still had the stench of urine and feces up my nose I just broke down. I couldn’t believe it. I cried,” she told CityNews last year.

READ MORE: Quebec nurse hopes report on seniors’ homes leads to immediate change

She says while she’s hopeful her sounding the alarm last year made a difference, she doesn’t see much change currently happening in the nursing home.

A new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Institute for Health Information found deaths in Canadian nursing homes represented 69 per cent of the country’s COVID-19 deaths–much higher than the 41 percent international average.

READ MORE: Long term care residents got less medical care in first wave of pandemic: report

It also found residents in nursing homes across several provinces received less medical care and had less contact with family and friends during the first wave, making them more vulnerable to depression.

“That means that a lot of people died from abandonment and expulsion of their caregiver and the lack of resources crisis. But the main error for which we intend to get financial repair for the families is the expulsion of close caregiver,” said Paul Brunet, a patients’ rights advocate.

Many were unable to see their loved ones, and people like Mule pulled their parents out of care at the time as the province feared outsiders would put residents more at risk.

“The own neglect and omission from the state was much more dangerous,” said Brunet.

Brunet is helping more than 50 families who joined a class-action lawsuit against Herron–now under government operation and previously owned by Katasa group– which faces a public inquiry in the fall.

He’s also made a list of recommendations to the province for an upcoming bill about the mistreatment of elders. He’s hoping to include direct accountability on the ground.

If not, he says the situation will remain critical.

“We’ll still go on in the coming years not being prepared and neglecting people who will die again from the next pandemic,” he said.

This is something Mule worries about for her mother in long-term care, which is why she says ever since Herron, she’s been more present at the residence than ever.

“I guess I suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome because I’m extremely fearful for my mother in her nursing home.”

She encourages other families to do the same.

“It scarred me in a very positive way and I’m happy that when I walk into my mother’s building, they know who the hell I am,” she said.

“They’re on their best behaviour.”