A West Island long-term care facility is so understaffed and in need of repairs that patient care is being affected, according to Quebec’s nurses union.
A union spokesperson said changes have been requested at the Denis –Benjamin-Viger Centre on Ile Bizard for months with no response from health officials and as a result, 125 residents are living in miserable conditions.
The centre has 43 total employees, including nurses and orderlies but six of those orderly positions have recently been cut. The union claimed that some nights, at least one floor of the facility has no orderly at all. This has resulted in more work for nurses and residents’ rooms have developed mold problems and have windows that don’t open and no air conditioning in the summer.
Some residents with limited mobility are left in chairs in diapers until 11:30 p.m., said the spokesperson.
Centre director Patrick Murphy Lavallee said the claims are unfounded and that staff is being re-organized to provide more efficient care because the patients’ needs have changed.
The union is planning to protest in front of the centre at 11:30 a.m. Monday morning.
