The big bosses of the CISSS and the CIUSSS were informed at the end of January 2020 of the fragility of the CHSLDs in the face of COVID-19. And as early as February, they reported on human resources issues at the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS).
Yvan Gendron, head deputy minister at the MSSS during the first wave of COVID-19, presented on Wednesday the chronology of the actions taken by his teams following the receipt of a very first email about the coronavirus, on the 3rd January 2020. He testified as part of the public inquiry into the deaths that occurred in CHSLDs during the first wave of the pandemic, in the spring of 2020.
Asked by lawyer Julie Sanogo, who represents the Federation of Health and Social Services (CSN), Mr. Gendron declared that from January 22, the presidents and directors general (p.-dg) of the CISSS and CIUSSS were made aware of the risks to which seniors were exposed.
What happened between your directives, your meetings, your 18 hours [de travail] per day and the fact that people in CHSLDs were at war, no weapons, no ammunition?
“It is obvious that the entire population, including the elderly, is at risk of being affected. […] So the message was to say: prepare yourself for all the services, including and particularly vulnerable people in CHSLDs, ”he said.
“We insisted on the vulnerability of people in CHSLDs? “, Relaunched Me Sanogo. “The answer is yes, because the most vulnerable seniors are in CHSLDs,” he replied.
On Monday, the national director of public health, Horacio Arruda, caused the surprise by telling the same survey that he was worried to see COVID-19 spreading in residential settings for the elderly as early as January or February. .
“In war, no weapons, no ammunition”
Faced with the revelations of Mr. Gendron, the coroner who is leading the investigation was once again incredulous. “What happened between your discussions, the February wake-up call and [la réalité] in CHSLDs, with the lack of personnel, known before the pandemic? People told us that there was zero command structure, ”said Géhane Kamel. “What happened between your directives, your meetings, your 18 hours [de travail] per day and the fact that people in CHSLDs were at war, no weapons, no ammunition? », She wondered again.
“It was obvious that the organization on the ground, it belongs to them,” replied the former deputy minister, visibly referring to the establishments. “They really had to produce, organize themselves,” he added. He pointed out that 61% of CHSLDs had had “no case” of COVID-19. “Did all the people prepare sufficiently for this?” Me, I dare imagine that they put a lot of energy, but it seems sometimes that as long as it doesn’t hit you, you don’t put in a lot of energy. “
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The lawyer of the Alliance of professional and technical personnel in health and social services, Sophie Brochu, for her part, sought to know if the CEOs had raised the flag to report workforce problems. , upstream of the first wave.
“We already knew that there were certain issues of staff shortages overall,” replied Mr. Gendron. He recalled that discussions to release budgets for the recruitment of labor were also underway at the time.
“In February, were there any additional resources from the ministry? », Asked Me Brochu. “The fact of adding resources, of using money, that belongs to them [aux p.-d.g.] », Replied Mr. Gendron.
“We, our message, [c’était] : do not wait until you have additional budgets to do what you have to do. If you lack resources, that you are able to seek them, no matter if you have a budgetary problem, do not worry about it: you commit [du personnel] », He launched.
Yvan Gendron was Deputy Minister at the MSSS from 2018 to 2020. He was dismissed from his post on June 21, 2020, when the former Minister of Health, Danielle McCann, was replaced by Christian Dubé.