No one predicted the toll that COVID-19 would take on seniors in long-term care facilities (commonly referred to in Quebec by their French abbreviation CHSLD). In a press conference on Tuesday, Quebec Premier François Legault reminded reporters that at the start of the pandemic, the government believed that hospitals and emergency services would bear the highest burden.
Legault was reacting to a scathing sixty-six-page report released last week by Quebec’s ombudsman, which condemns the government’s decision to transfer hundreds of residents from hospitals to long-term care homes. The move was intended to increase the capacity of available hospital beds, in anticipation of a predicted surge in COVID-19 patients.
The report indicates that Quebec had underestimated the risks associated with transferring patients to understaffed and poorly equipped facilities, with deadly consequences.
Quebec ombudsman Marie Rinfret reported that as of June 30, 2020, 3,894 of the 5,634 COVID-19 casualties in Quebec (69% of total deaths), occurred in long-term care facilities. Rinfret published the report on November 23, eliciting a strong reaction in the National Assembly.
Opposition parties reacted quickly, leveraging the findings to support their calls for a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Although the government claims to have warned the long-term care facilities about the pandemic as early as January 2020, the report counters that no real action was taken until April, when the tragedy at Résidence Herron was revealed in the Montreal Gazette.
Following months of investigation, in the field and in the highest levels of government, the document describes a “gulf” between the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services and the regional health authorities that oversee long-term care facilities.
Ombudsman Rinfret uncovered prescient warnings from those on the ground, which failed to spur adequate government action.
The CHSLDs were neither conceived to accommodate such a large influx of new patients nor equipped to handle the virus. The report found that the lack of personal protective equipment, the problems contingent with fitting out hot and cold confinement areas, and the mobility of staff in-between and through CHSLDs, all contributed to the spread of the virus.
The report also found that the Quebec government’s decision to ban visits from caregivers had a negative impact on the physical and mental health of residents.
Staff absenteeism exacerbated problems. Between March 1st and June 14th, 2020, 13,581 health care workers contracted COVID-19, which accounted for 25% of all reported cases in the first wave. Eleven of these workers died, while others experienced psychological trauma from witnessing the conditions in the facilities.
Quebec’s approach contrasted starkly with the handling of the pandemic in British Columbia’s long-term care homes. According to ombudsman Rinfret, the BC Ministry of Health was proactive from the very beginning. As soon as the first outbreak occurred on March 7, 2020, teams were deployed.
Premier Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both spoke about the importance of protecting seniors during the pandemic, who were among the first groups to be vaccinated. However, when you look at the details in the CHSLD report, these words start to ring hollow. For Legault, who is facing an election in 2022, this report will be nearly indefensible to families who lost loved ones in a long-term care facility.
Protecting seniors should have been a top public priority in this pandemic; this report makes it clear that this did not happen in Quebec. The government must do more to protect those who continue to be most affected by COVID-19. Governments must be held accountable and be better prepared for the future.
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