‘What really happened’: Family remains in the dark about grandmother’s death; report expected soon

One year after 86-year-old Filipino grandmother Candida Macarine died in a Montreal hospital, her family is still left without answers on what truly led to her death.

Candida was admitted to the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire on Feb. 26, 2021 due to respiratory distress. The very next day she was found dead on the floor by hospital staff.

“How can our mother be at peace? How can we be reassured that our mother was properly cared for? Imagine how this question has been haunting us since her passing,” said Candida’s daughter, Gilda Macarine.

“Maybe if my mom was properly taken care of, maybe she’d still be alive today?”

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

Her family says they’ve been denied a full explanation and had to piece together some of the circumstances of her death from a news report.

“We were only told that she died due to cardiac arrest,” said her son Emmanuel Macarine. “That’s all we know.”

Gilda works as a nurse in a long-term care home. She says that only makes this so much harder for her.

“I’m taking care of elderly persons, elderly residents,” she said. “Every time I work, my heart is so heavy because my focus keeps on going back to what had happened to my mom.”

The hospital and regional health authority asked for a coroner’s inquiry in late March 2021, after the family went public with their story. Still today, they haven’t heard anything back.

“Give us something to assure us that, yes, we are still working on this investigation,” said Emmanuel. “Don’t keep us in the dark forever.”

READ MORE:

• Family of Filipino woman found dead on hospital floor says it still doesn’t have answers
• Families calling for new coroner in investigation of alleged hospital mistreatment

Quebec’s coroner’s office says the investigation is still ongoing, and should be in its final stages. The report is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.

“Until I see that report in front of me, nothing is going to make me feel better,” said Emmanuel.

Seeta Ramdass, a patients’ rights advocate, says the hospital and health authorities needed to be more transparent and communicate better with the Macarines from the very beginning.

“The anguish and the pain and suffering the family is going through is only amplified by the lack of information,” said Ramdass. “So providing them with information is a way of showing them respect and to provide them with some type of comfort to then investigate, find out the causes.”

The Macarine family is also hoping for answers from the hospital itself.

“They said that they would give us an update or give us whatever changes they made,” said Emmanuel. “Nothing.”

Hélène Bergeron-Gamache of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal says several changes have been implemented at the Lakeshore General hospital over the last year.

In a statement to CityNews, she said: “We have increased continuous training for care staff, ordered smart cushions that will alert care staff when a patient is getting up, and night lights for the three negative pressure rooms so that we can have eye contact with patients, at all times, even at night.

“In order to meet the challenge of visibility and ensure optimal patient monitoring, a service assistant is on duty 24/7 in this emergency department,” the statement continued.

The health authority confirms an internal investigation was completed by the risk management team and recommendations came out of it, including the optimization of the rounds process with regard to the isolation rooms.

“What are the prevention methods that they’re going to apply and how soon they’re going to implement that to repair this room and to ensure that this doesn’t happen to another patient?” said Ramdass.

For the Macarine family, a few things would bring them and their mother peace.

“The truth,” said Emmanuel. “And what really happened that night and changes to prevent something like this from happening.”