Quebec ‘cast aside’ seniors in long-term care, needs to make changes now, ombudsman says – CBC

Health officials distracted by crisis in European hospitals, when real need was in long-term care: report

Nov 23, 2021

Quebec’s ombudsman submitted her final report into what went wrong in the province’s long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic, saying residents were “cast aside” and imploring the government to right its wrongs by making recommended changes immediately.

Marie Rinfret says she is asking Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé to provide her with ongoing progress updates, starting this spring, until all 27 recommendations in her report are implemented.

Rinfret’s investigation is separate from the Quebec coroner’s inquiry into the pandemic death toll at seniors’ residences and the impact of the pandemic on the sector as a whole — though both share the goal of uncovering what went wrong and identifying what needs to change.

Despite expressing concern about seniors in long-term care in January 2020 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave in Quebec, health officials did not take any actions to safeguard them until mid-March, Rinfret found.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-ombudsman-recommendations-1.6259391