Calls to Info-Santé reveal desperation of Residence Herron owner in March 2020

Newly released recordings of phone calls to a Quebec government-run health line in 2020 reveal how desperate the owners of a long-term care home were during the pandemic’s first wave.

The pair of recordings from the owners of the Herron private care home, where 47 people died in spring 2020, were entered into evidence for the coroner’s inquest that is investigating COVID-19 deaths in the province.

READ: Email reveals Quebec ministers knew earlier about Herron care home tragedy

In the recordings published today by La Presse, a panicked Samantha Chowieri and her husband call twice to the non-urgent health line, telling a nurse they are seeking a mass testing of residents.

They say they are not getting any response from regional health officials and make clear there is no staff left to feed, hydrate and care for residents.

“We need help from somebody,” Chowieri can be heard telling the Info-Santé operator on a call made March 28 at 9:32 a.m. “Everybody is hanging up on us, they’re saying they can’t help us. We were told to call Info Public or the CIUSSS this weekend if things got out of hand.

“We have employees who are not coming into work, who are sick. We have administration staff members who are sick and not coming in. And we have residents that we’re taking in, and they’re not doing well. Is it possible to have testing done for our entire CHSLD?”

The following afternoon, in a call that was placed at 2:34 p.m., Chowieri’s husband tells the Info-Santé operator the situation is  “urgent.”

“I really need help,” he said. “I need someone to come here and do testing on location. The residents have reduced mobility. We can’t transport them to hospital. We need to control that place.”

On Tuesday, Radio-Canada reported on an email tabled into evidence at the inquiry revealing that cabinet ministers knew about the dire situation at the Herron care home at least 10 days earlier than they had previously acknowledged.

READ MORE:

• Quebecer who lost father to COVID-19 at long-term care home questions value of public inquiry
• Quebec COVID-19 response hampered by ignorance, shortages: senior health adviser
• ‘Beyond what’s humanly acceptable’: Testimony ends at Residence Herron inquest

The March 29, 2020, email is labelled “URGENT” and warns the chief of staff to Seniors Minister Marguerite Blais that there were “almost no more staff” to care for Herron’s 154 residents.

The email was reportedly forwarded to Blais that same night, while the health minister at the time, Danielle McCann, received a briefing on the situation the following day. However, both Blais and McCann have stated publicly that they only learned about conditions at the Herron care home from reading a news article in the Montreal Gazette.

Opposition parties today renewed calls for a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.