Abuse at the CHSLD de La Prairie: Bélanger orders a new investigation
The Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, during question period at the National Assembly on May 9, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)
The Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, announced on Wednesday that she has ordered a new investigation at the long-term care centre (CHSLD) in La Prairie in connection with acts of abuse.
"The CISSS of Montérégie-Ouest conducted an internal investigation. Since I am not satisfied with the conclusions I saw, I have asked the ministerial teams to investigate," she said in a press scrum.
Le Journal de Montréal reported on Monday that an attendant at the CHSLD in La Prairie allegedly punched an 86-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's a few weeks before her death.
Employees reportedly saw the same attendant strike another resident on the head and forcibly straighten the arm of a third elderly person with stiff limbs.
Citing the Journal article on Wednesday, Liberal MP Linda Caron pointed out that the man in question had been suspended for three weeks with pay and then relocated, while a whistleblower had been suspended for two weeks without pay.
"This is unacceptable; it's even outrageous. What are you going to do?" she asked the minister.
Bélanger responded that, in her view, the situation is "unacceptable" and "unjustifiable."
"I have requested an investigation from our inspection team at the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and I will closely follow the case," she promised.
In the press scrum, Minister Bélanger reiterated that "there is zero tolerance for abuse" and that "employees have an obligation to report."
"When employees report, managers must take charge of the situation," she emphasized.
Will she demand changes within the CISSS? "I will proceed step by step," she said.
The report from the Ministry of Health and Social Services' inspection team is expected "in the coming days."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 2, 2024.
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