Family of Lionel Desmond now believes Nova Scotia Health Authority ‘did the best that they could’

Nearly six months after his death, the family of Lionel Desmond met with the Nova Scotia Health Authority on Wednesday morning at Saint Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish, N.S.

Desmond, a 33-year-old Afghanistan war veteran, fatally shot his 52-year-old mother Brenda, his 31-year-old wife Shanna and their 10-year-old daughter Aalyiah in January, before turning the gun on himself.

At the time, Desmond’s family said he was suffering from PTSD and was turned away from Saint Martha’s Regional Hospital the day before the triple murder-suicide.

READ MORE: Nova Scotia premier not ruling out public inquiry into Desmond murder-suicide

After meeting with the health authority, the family now says Lionel Desmond was not denied services by the hospital.

“That was misinformation. I don’t know if it was part of his state of mind that made him tell some family members that or not,” said Albert MacLellan, Cousin of Lionel Desmond.

“No one can say what was going through his mind at the time but based on the information that we received and we saw in black and white today, I’m quite comfortable saying that the health authority here at Saint Martha’s and the mental health workers within their walls, did the best that they could with the information they had at the time.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "No one can say what was going through his mind at the time but based on the information that we received and we saw in black and white today, I'm quite comfortable saying that the health authority here at Saint Martha's and the mental health workers within their walls, did the best that they could with the information they had at the time."

During a three hour meeting, the Nova Scotia Health Authority provided the Desmond family with results of a quality review and outlined what care was provided to Lionel Desmond before his death.

READ MORE: Two-tiered justice system, race issues the reason for lack of Lionel Desmond inquiry: relative

Despite sharing the results with the family, the health authority will not be making any of the information public.

“We can not specifically talk to what that information is. So we can’t share any information about the care received and we can’t share any information about the recommendations that came out of the quality review,” said Colin Stevenson, Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Although we don’t know what the review entailed, Cassandra Desmond, Lionel’s sister, is hopeful.

“I am very confident enough to believe that change is going to be an outcome from this tragic event,” she told Global News.

The family is next scheduled to meet with the province’s medical examiner. Details of what will be discussed at that meeting have not yet been released.

Follow @NatashaPace