Quebec’s health and welfare commissioner will investigate and assess how the province’s health network handled the novel coronavirus pandemic and provide recommendations on how to improve senior care.
Health Minister Christian Dubé said Wednesday the commissioner’s mandate will be complementary to other ongoing probes into the management of the health crisis.
“We’re more looking at the general performance of the health system,” he said.
Commissioner Joanne Castonguay will be responsible for looking at services offered to seniors in their own homes and long-term care facilities, according to Dubé.
The mandate’s scope goes beyond a separate investigation by the Quebec coroner’s office, which is focusing on what Dubé described as “critical targeted aspects” such as embattled nursing homes like the Residence Herron in Dorval.
“I want her to focus on every aspect,” he said.
Quebec has been the province hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis and nursing homes bore the brunt of pandemic. The respiratory illness has led to more than 5,700 deaths and 61,300 cases since March.
When asked why the health and welfare commissioner was given this task five months into the pandemic, Dubé said the province didn’t wait but that it has been focusing on the crisis.
“Now that we are ready for a second wave, I think it’s appropriate to give that mandate,” he said.
In a statement, Castonguay said the pandemic has affected all Quebecers and revealed “significant flaws” within the health network.
“We must learn from these events,” she said, adding her work will also rely on findings outlined by other public bodies and the coroner’s office.
The report and its recommendations are expected to be completed by Sept. 1, 2021.
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