Librada Samson, or Brenda as friends call her, owns the Maison des Anges Blanc — a private retirement home in the town of Rigaud in the Montérégie.
She currently has four seniors in her care, but now they’re being forced to relocate and have until Dec. 18 to find a new home.
Last month, local health authorities at the CISSS Montérégie-Centre notified Samson she had to cease activities.
Samson has been running the place, mostly on her own, since she bought it in 2013.
She believes it’s one of the main reasons the regional health board’s inspector wants her to close.
“She says ‘no you’re not capable. No, you’re not capable.’ And I say ‘I’m doing it myself already.'”
Certification is another reason.
Samson’s certification allowing her to administer medication to her residents expired earlier in the year and she needs to be recertified. She said she’s having trouble finding training in English.
And then there’s the question of upgrades to the building.
That is something Samson argues has been made more complicated by the pandemic. “It’s so difficult with this COVID … to hire people who are going to work,” she said.
Residents and their families don’t understand why they’re being asked to relocate during a pandemic.
“We need a deadline extension,” said Kristina Nagi, whose father has Alzheimer’s and has been living at Maison des Anges Blanc since February.
“He loves it here,” Nagi said.
“She takes care of them. She gives them three showers hours a week. She keeps them active. He likes playing air hockey with her out there and when the caregiver is here, she’s taking him for a walk.”
Samson even has a garden where she grows her own vegetables.
“She feeds them really well,” Nagi said.
She’s worried about the impact moving to a new home will have on her father, especially because of the need to quarantine for two weeks due to COVID-19.
“Keeping him in a room for two weeks, he’s a physically-fit person. He cannot read or stay in a room without attention,” she said. “He’ll have to be sedated. It’s not the life he has here with Brenda.“
Resident Andrew Dzurovka says he doesn’t know what he’s going to do.
“I’m going to be outside without a roof over my head if things don’t start clicking together,” he said.
Dzurovka said he doesn’t want to move and is worried about the number of COVID-19 cases he’s heard of in other seniors’ residences.
“This is a good place to be at this time,” he said.
Dzurovka, like Nagi and other families, is hoping for a reprieve for Samson and is trying to rally the community to help her.
“It takes a village. This is how it is out here,” Nagi said.
A spokesperson for the CISSS confirmed the home would cease operations but refused to give specifics, saying the information was of a confidential nature.
The CISSS did say, however, that it was providing support to relocate residents in a living environment suitable to their needs.
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