Family of Filipino woman found dead on hospital floor says it still doesn’t have answers

MONTREAL – The family of a Filipino woman found dead on the floor of the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire says it still hasn’t got the answers it needs following her death.

Relatives of Candida Macarine, 86, say they cannot rest until they understand what happened to her.

In February, Macarine was admitted to the hospital due to respiratory distress.

The very next day, she was found dead by staff.

READ MORE: Family of Filipino mother found dead on hospital floor demanding answers

Her family held a press conference at the end of March to say they were being denied a full explanation and were only been able to piece together some of the circumstances of their mother’s death thanks to a news report.

The hospital responded by saying that it had asked the coroner to launch an inquiry.

But the Macarines have heard nothing from the coroner’s office since.

“Why have you not contacted us? Do you have a heart? Do you understand why we need you to conduct the inquiry? Did you ignore us because we are Filipino? Because we are anglophone?” said the family.

The Macarines called the silence from the coroner’s office “deafening and disturbing”, going on to say that they believe officials are hoping that the case will be swept under the rug.

“We are calling on Premier [Francois] Legault to help our family get the answers. We believe that he has compassion and he understands ordinary families.”

The premier’s office says an investigation by the local health authority is underway and a coroner’s investigation was requested, but that the coroner’s office leads its investigations free of political influence.

The coroner’s office says the person in charge of the investigation has tried to communicate with several members of the family but was unable to reach them.

The office also says in a statement that the family has not made an effort to return the investigator’s calls. The family refutes this.