How do we make sure CHSLD Herron doesn’t happen again

Coroner Gehane Kamel’s report sheds light on the lack of care many seniors received in the spring of 2020, she made 23 recommendations for the province, the health ministry, and others.

Kamel wrote what happened is an indication of years of failed public policies.

The government said they’ve already implemented some of Kamel’s recommendations and it will put more in place.

To answer some questions, CityNews sat down with patients’ rights advocate, Paul Brunet, to talk about the Quebec coroner’s report on the long-term care deaths of seniors during the first wave of the pandemic.

Do you think coroner Gehane Kamel’s recommendations regarding senior care go far enough?

Well, to a certain extent, yes. They’re not necessarily new. But again, you know, like I’ve been leading for the past couple of years, people some people did not do their job. So I don’t think we need a public inquiry in trying to find what happened.

If you put in different pieces, what went on or what didn’t go on. You are realizing that it’s just a matter of people not having done their job, whereas they had the duty and the power to do it.

And we need sanctions more than the public inquiry, in my mind, anyway.

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• Coroner’s report into long-term care home seniors’ deaths highlights lack of care
• ‘Deserted’: Testimony of a head nurse’s visit at CHSLD Herron during first wave
• Health officials, Herron staff clashed as situation got worse, Quebec coroner hears

The government said that it has already implemented some of the recommendations and will put more in place. Are you satisfied with that response and will that help repair the system?

If you have a director of public health, more independent, but not trying and going on with the monitoring of what is going on around the world two or three months after the fact.

Independent or not. Are you going to be knowledgeable enough to know and to recommend some action? I mean, the question is simple why were elders so affected by the crisis? Because we didn’t know that they were that focused by the virus.

Why didn’t we know that? Because there was no monitoring since January 2020. How many people died because of that? Thousands of people. That’s the kind of fact we should have had in the report. And I haven’t seen it. I’ve seen some, you know, allusion about some elements that were but you have their testimony non contradicted of what went on and answers to those questions. And I would have wanted a little more direct affirmation on the part of the coroner.

RELATED:

• Quebec coroner’s report CHSLD deaths first wave of pandemic: public health director should be more independent
• Email reveals Quebec ministers knew earlier about Herron care home tragedy
• Quebec COVID-19 response hampered by ignorance, shortages: senior health adviser

The coroner wrote that what happened is an indication of years of failed public policies. You’re not calling for a public inquiry, same as the coroner. So the coroner says that she just wants people to never forget what happened. How can that be possible? And how can we make sure this doesn’t happen again?

I wanted a monument erected right in front of the National Assembly so that all politicians remember that we should not, you know, forget what we have to do, which is be more prepared, have a, you know, vigil monitoring of what is going on around the world all the time like it is prescribed by law already.

We don’t need new laws. We need people to do their job.

We need, you know, elders in this situation. Why they were tested only at the end. Whereas if we had known that they were the most at risk, we should and could have tested them in the very beginning.

That’s not what we did. So all those things, without due respect, are the result of a lack of preparedness, lack of monitoring, and lack of action on the part of the authorities. And that is sad. So we don’t necessarily need a public inquiry. We need people to do their job. And that to me is very important. And the way to remember for the years to come is to erect a monument