CHSLD Herron: $174,000 to a communications firm to manage the crisis

The CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal awarded a two-month contract worth $174,439 to the public relations firm Tact Conseil to manage its image during the crisis in CHSLD Herron.

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The CIUSSS signed this agreement with the Tact Relève division on 1^er April 2020, three days after its staff was sent as reinforcements to the private CHSLD where deaths were accumulating during the first wave of COVID-19. The contract was signed by mutual agreement, under the health emergency.

Yet it was only 10 days later that CIUSSS president Lynne McVey called 911, saying she realized during the afternoon that the situation was worse than announced, with the death toll rising. from 13 to 31.

The massacre at the CHSLD Herron will ultimately kill 47 people.

Late reaction

The role of Tact Conseil in the management of the crisis was already known, but the final amount of the contract awarded by the CIUSSS was made public last week with the publication of the contracts awarded under the state of health emergency. In June 2020, Global News reported a $140,000 bill, after a freedom of information request.

Invited to comment, the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal offered a very succinct response.

“Due to the impact of the health crisis on our teams and the importance of informing the population and our community during the pandemic, we have retained the services of an external firm to support our team of communications,” writes its spokesperson, Hélène Bergeron-Gamache.

M^me Bergeron-Gamache did not explain why the contract was signed on the 1^er April, while Lynne McVey claimed to have understood the extent of the situation only 10 days later.

However, as of March 29, its employees had discovered soiled, dehydrated and hungry residents at the CHSLD Herron. “I should have called [le 911] on March 29,” testified Ms.^me McVey in front of coroner Géhane Kamel, responsible for shedding light on deaths in certain establishments during the pandemic.