The Herron private nursing home is seen in Dorval, Que., on April 16, 2020.ERIC THOMAS/AFP/Getty Images
Three professional orders in Quebec say they will hold a joint investigation into the worrisome situation at seniors’ homes and long-term care centres since the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The province’s College of Physicians, Order of Nurses and Order of Auxiliary Nurses will look at the quality of care provided by their respective members in both private and publicly managed centres.
Experts assigned by the orders will focus on Residence Herron, a privately owned long-term care home in Dorval and the Montreal Geriatrics Institute, a public facility.
They say that those test cases will provide an accounting of the situation in both the private and public setting and at the end, the investigators will submit a joint report with recommendations for actions.
Luc Mathieu, the head of the Quebec nurses’ order, says a severe lack of resources and nursing expertise in the province’s long-term care homes means the model as a whole needs to be reviewed.
Premier Francois Legault said Monday that more than 4,000 residents at seniors’ homes and long-term care facilities have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 2,000 nurses and orderlies are currently ill or off the job.
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