Residence Herron manager says staffing problems played role

By CityNews staff & The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — The manager of a Montreal long-term care home where 47 residents died during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic told a coroner’s inquiry today that staffing issues played a part in the crisis.

Andrei Stanica, who oversaw the now-shuttered Residence Herron, says the replacement of experienced staff in January 2020 with workers from a temp agency and the lack of a director of care contributed to what happened.

Family members and a volunteer nurse spoke to CityNews and sounded the alarm about the crisis. They said seniors were left to their own devices, many without food and water.

The inquiry has heard that regional health authorities found residents dehydrated, unfed and soiled when they entered the facility on Mar. 29, confirming what families had said.

Peter Wheeland’s 88-year-old mother Connie was one of them.

“It’s astounding in this day and age in a country as wealthy as we are, that you have people that were sitting around in their own excrement for hours and sometimes days,” said Wheeland. “And that was happening to my mother, when the CIUSS was there as well. She sat in her own dirty diaper for four hours at one point.

“I would like to hear a few more people acknowledge that they failed because a lot of people failed the residents of Herron and almost none are admitting that they failed. They’re always pointing the finger at someone else.”

At Wednesday’s inquest, Stanica says he tried his best to ensure the best care and added that when he fell ill and left the facility on Mar. 27, there were no reports of a catastrophic situation.

He says he was surprised two days later when regional health authorities announced trusteeship plans for the private care home.

Wheeland is demanding answers from the inquest.

“I just want to hear the truth. All the coroner is looking for, all I’m looking for is the truth of what happened,” he said.

“We’ve heard a lot of people say they were not in control and these were all the people who were supposed to be leading, who were supposed to pull Herron out of the crisis. They were too busy pointing their fingers at other people to get anything done.”

Coroner Gehane Kamel said Wednesday that Herron’s staffing woes seem to have been mitigated by the fact families were taking care of residents, but then provincial health authorities banned visitors in mid-March to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Kamel’s mandate is to investigate 53 deaths in 2020 at six long-term care homes and one senior’s residence – including 47 at Herron – and come up with recommendations.

Kamel said there are many contradictions in the testimony she’s heard during the inquest into Herron, and wondered openly if management at the private facility was cutting corners on equipment purchases and hiring unskilled employees.

“But it degenerated to a point where people who are illegal came in to work with vulnerable people who were left on their own,” Kamel said. “So when you look at the big picture, in retrospect, we can say it went out of control and the victims of all this are elderly people.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2021.

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