Thread by @TheMarieOakes

These stories only get worse.

At Herron nursing home, the wife died in a room shared by a married couple. Her body was left in there for a day. The husband had Alzheimer’s. Every few hours, he checked on his spouse and rediscovered that she had died.

theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

"COVID-19 was repeatedly cited as a cause of death at the Herron nursing home to obscure the fact that dozens of elderly residents died from thirst, malnourishment and neglect, a Quebec coroner’s inquest heard Tuesday."

"A recurring theme in the auxiliary nurse’s testimony was the lack of humanity afforded to dying residents and their relatives. One appeared to have died of thirst after being forgotten in his room."

Starting March 13, 2020, a government directive banned visitors, including family caregivers, from entering nursing homes in Quebec. Many elderly residents with Alzheimer’s disease declined quickly when left by themselves.

“I saw firsthand that they were dehydrated, in spite of my best efforts to keep them hydrated. I saw that they were malnourished,” the auxiliary nurse said.

“I had the impression that they were blaming the virus because it would be easier to blame the virus than to acknowledge the hard truth that these people suffered from malnourishment and dehydration. I felt that it was a way to escape culpability,” she told the inquest.

Mr. Barrette had been admitted March 27 & needed oxygen b/c of breathing problems. But there were no notes on his chart from b/w his admission & when they found him dead. She testified that she saw no oxygen bottle in his room. His family believes staff had forgotten about him.