Health and social service centres say they're not to blame in coroner's inquest into Quebec's long-term care deaths

Health commissioner releases CHSLD report Joanne Castonguay said Quebec’s handling of the first wave was underprepared, disorganized and confused.

The lawyer for numerous health and social service centres says they are not to blame for the deaths in Quebec's long-term care facilities (CHSLDs) during the first wave of the pandemic.

Luc de la Sablonnière made the argument on Thursday before coroner Gehane Kamel, who is in charge of the inquiry.

He agreed, however, that “there are certainly a lot of improvements that need to be made.”

De la Sablonnière argued that, since hospitals were expected to suffer when the virus arrived, “before March 9 or 10, the CHSLDs were not put forward, were not the main concern” of the authorities.

He also pointed to several problems that existed even before the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the fact that “many of the physical facilities are inadequate and inappropriate,” a point that had been raised in several testimonies.

“It is a given that the CHSLDs and public health have been the poor children of the network [...] for at least three decades," he said. This same observation was made by representatives of several health-care worker unions earlier this week.

De la Sablonnière said “the structure of the network” needs to be improved.

He also called for a culture change regarding CHSLDs. While they were originally conceived as living environments, the gradual increase in the health problems of their clientele would force them to become primarily care environments.

But “even in a perfect world,” he said, the situation could not have been completely avoided: “You can’t discount the lack of knowledge we had about the virus […] and we had no drugs, no vaccines.”

The lawyer and his colleagues also cited several interventions made by their clients, such as the initiative made by the CISSS de Laval to screen residents of the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée early, or the placing under guardianship of the Manoir Liverpool, which was understaffed, by the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches.

CONTEXT OF THE INQUIRY

The coroner’s inquest is looking into the deaths of elderly or vulnerable persons that occurred in residential settings during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During this initial wave, from Feb. 25 to July 11, 2020, Quebecers aged 70 years and older accounted for 92 per cent of COVID-19 deaths, according to data from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. Of these, 5,211 died from the disease.

The survey is limited to events that occurred between March 12 and May 1, at the height of the crisis. Its objective is not to point the finger, but to make recommendations to avoid future tragedies.

Six CHSLDs and one private seniors’ residence were chosen as a sample. A death was examined per each facility and then the coroner looked at the provincial management of the crisis.

This week’s hearings focus on recommendations from various stakeholders.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 20, 2022