Health officials in Montreal say they will ask the coroner to investigate the death of an 86-year-old woman reportedly found lifeless on the floor in a hospital emergency room.
Candida Macarine, 86, was admitted to Lakeshore General Hospital on the night of Feb. 26 due to respiratory distress, and her family says she died several hours later from cardiac arrest.
The decision by the health agency to inform the coroner came one day after Macarine’s family said they hadn’t been able to obtain answers following a CBC report about an elderly woman found dead in the hospital’s emergency room on Feb. 27. The info in the CBC report matched the timing of Macarine’s death.
Macarine’s family only learned of those circumstances on the eve of her funeral. They called on Monday for a coroner to investigate the death after health authorities refused to confirm the family’s suspicion that Macarine was the patient in the news report.
The health authority admitted Tuesday it hadn’t properly communicated with the Macarine family and said the head of the agency has written to the family to propose a meeting and to offer support.
“Although the investigation is still ongoing, the CIUSSS (health authority) is already able to say that its communications with the family were incomplete, especially at the time of the announcement of the death,” the agency wrote in a statement.
“The CIUSSS team is obviously sorry for the concerns this caused to the family of the deceased.”
In a statement Tuesday, the health authority that oversees the hospital says that after the family on Monday demanded a coroner’s probe, it has asked the coroner to investigate as well as carrying out an internal review.
Health officials admitted their communications with the family were lacking, and the head of the regional health authority has written to the family to propose a meeting and offer support.