MONTREAL -- Three professional orders in Quebec will be holding a joint investigation into the lack of proper care in the province’s many long-term care centres, it was announced Tuesday.
The investigation comes after stories of neglect surfaced in CHSLDs across the province, such as Maison Herron in Dorval. Led by the Collège des médecins du Québec, l'Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec and l'Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers auxiliaires du Québec, the investigation aims to assess the care provided by members of these orders in both private and public centres.
Specifically, practices at Herron and at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal will be studied by experts mandated by the professional orders. They chose one private institute and one public institute to study in order to get a better idea of how care has varied between the two, which will cover the entire spectrum of medical and nursing care.
Investigators from the orders will submit a joint report at the end of their process, which will contain recommendations and actions that must be taken, as well as which authorities should be questioned.
Order representatives mentioned that there was a lack of resources in long-term care facilities before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the province must review how it cares for the elderly.
On Monday, Premier François Legault said that 4,000 people living in seniors' residences have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and that there’s a lack of 2,000 employees to care for them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2020.
