The CISSS and the CIUSSS are not to blame for the carnage in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic, argued Thursday the lawyer for several of them, Me Luc de la Sablonnière, during his representations before the coroner in charge of the investigation on this subject Géhane Kamel.
However, he agreed that “there are certainly a lot of improvements that need to be made”.
The lawyer made a point of recalling that, since everyone expected that it would be the hospitals that suffered with the arrival of the virus, “before March 9 or 10, the CHSLDs were not put on the before, were not the main concern” of the authorities.
He also pointed to several issues that existed even before the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the fact that “many physical facilities are inadequate and unsuitable”, a point that had been raised in several testimonies.
“It is accepted that the CHSLDs and public health have been the poor children of the network […] for at least three decades,” he explained. This same observation had been made by representatives of several unions of health workers, earlier this week.
In another common point with the unions, Mᵉ de la Sablonnière also mentioned that “the structure of the network as such” would need improvements.
He also called for a change of culture concerning the conception that we have of CHSLDs. While these had initially been designed as living environments, the gradual increase in the health problems of their clientele would force them to become above all care environments.
But “even in a perfect world”, the situation could not have been completely avoided. “You can’t discount the lack of knowledge we had of the virus, he said, and we had no medicine, no vaccines. »
The lawyer and his colleagues also cited several interventions made by their clients, such as the initiative of the CISSS de Laval to screen the residents of the CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée early on, or the placing under guardianship of the Manoir Liverpool, which lacked personnel, by the CISSS of Chaudière-Appalaches.
The context of the investigation
The coroner’s inquest is looking into deaths of elderly or vulnerable people that occurred in residential settings during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this initial wave, from February 25 to July 11, 2020, Quebecers aged 70 and over accounted for 92% of deaths from COVID-19, according to data from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. 5211 of them then succumbed to the disease.
The investigation is limited to events that took place between March 12 and May 1, at the height of the crisis. Its purpose is not to identify a culprit, but to make recommendations to avoid future tragedies.
Six CHSLDs and a private residence for seniors were designated as a sample. One death was reviewed for each facility, then the coroner considered the provincial management of the crisis.
This week’s hearings focus on recommendations from various interested parties.