Police investigate Residence Herron – It is horrifying, unacceptable and also inconceivable that 31 senior residents in the care of Maison Herron, a long-term care facility in Dorval, have died due to neglect. Reports of residents not receiving basic care for days, with diapers not being changed leaving them lying in their own excrement and others not being fed regularly, have recently come to light in one of the darkest moments during the COVID-19 pandemic. How could this have happened?
Police investigate Residence Herron
At a news briefing on April 11th, Premier Francois Legault said that of the 31 deaths at least five were COVID-19 cases. He further explained that a patient had been sent from the residence to the Jewish General Hospital on March 26th with the COVID-19 virus and later died. Then on March 29th, health authorities visited the home and found that staff had abandoned it. “It is not acceptable how our elderly are treated in this province,” he said and added the facility’s owner kept information from the government that had ‘serious problems in its care and conditions’ – and 40 private long-term care facilities will be investigated by police and public health.
Earlier on in the afternoon, Lynne McVey, CEO of the West Island regional health board said they did not receive cooperation from the private residence when they offered assistance. We reached out to Maison Herron, we knew they were having difficulty staffing. We had little collaboration with the owners, unfortunately. These are extraordinary circumstances. She said it was only when a team from the health board was able to enter the private facility that health workers wearing protective gear ensured residents were fed, changed and able to go to sleep. The regional health board took over the residence on March 29th, but it was only after a public health order was obtained on April 8th that they were able to access the residents’ files and contact information for their family members. It was then they learned of the 31 deaths and are now investigating the circumstances around them. Maison Herron is owned by Katasa Groupe Developers since 2015 and they also own other seniors’ homes in Quebec. Family members who need information about residents can call the Montreal West Island Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre at 514-630-2123 from 8:00am to 8:00pm.
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