Quebec has announced there will be an independent investigation at the Lakeshore General Hospital after a disturbing report highlighted severe systemic issues that allegedly contributed to multiple patient deaths.
A series of Montreal Gazette articles has put the hospital’s problems in the spotlight once again.
Patrice Blais will be forever scarred by what happened to his father at the Lakeshore.
“Does it kill your faith in the health system? I mean, it definitely shakes it, big time,” Blais, who was featured in one of the Gazette articles, told Global News,
After displaying suicidal thoughts to medical staff at the Lakeshore’s packed ER in 2019, 77-year-old retired police officer Jacques Blais was somehow left alone for over 14 hours before he was discovered in a cubicle having died by suicide.
“You assess the person and then they’re still able to do that. That’s a whole different story,” Blais said.
He says hospital officials did not give his family the full story.
“We found that in the coroner’s report a year later,” he explained, adding that the Gazette reporting also shed light on details of the incident he had not been told by the hospital.
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
- Canadians more likely to eat food past best-before date. What are the risks?
- Treatment from female doctors leads to lower death rates, study finds
Blais’ father’s case is just one of six possibly preventable deaths at the consistently overwhelmed hospital outlined by the Montreal Gazette in its series of reports.
“Unfortunately, this is what happens when you don’t listen to the people on the floor,” said Kristina Hoare of the Lakeshore Hospital nurses union.
“We are experts in our fields. We know what’s best, we know what we need, and we have not been listened to for the past couple of years.”
Whistleblowers told the Gazette the deaths were the result of systemic negligence.
After pressure from the opposition Liberals, Health Minister Christian Dube’s office tells Global News there will be an independent investigation into the Lakeshore ER.
“The facts reported are very worrying and we would first like to offer our condolences to the families affected. Let’s be clear: we do not compromise on patient health and safety,” said the minister’s spokesperson Antoine de la Durantaye.
The regional health authority that manages the hospital has pledged to cooperate.
“We intend to collaborate in this investigation and put in place all the necessary recommendations, if necessary,” said CIUSSS West Island spokesperson Hélène Bergeron-Gamache.
“The management team encourages all persons concerned to collaborate with the investigator, in complete transparency and collaboration.”
Liberal MNA André Fortin was among those calling for an investigation following the Gazette’s reporting.
“We need answers as to why the Minister of Health knew about these situations. was informed of them, but didn’t act on them,” he told Global News in an interview.
Hoare said staff had written to Dubé in both January and February of this year sounding the alarm about the situation at the hospital, and had not heard back.
Medical malpractice lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard hopes the investigation leads to change, but said in similar situations in the past it’s been difficult to know exactly what recommendations are being implemented.
“You can call this situation the limitation of resources, the usual constraints of an emergency room, but there are obviously more significant issues at play here,” he said.
Beaconsfield mayor George Bourelle said he feels concerned for his constituents who need to use the hospital.
“I feel terrible because in the West Island we need to rely entirely on Lakeshore. When you hear about the issues and the problems that exist and have existed for a long time at the Lakeshore ER, it’s scary. It’s very scary for the for the residents of the West Island,” he told Global News.
Bourelle said he had discussed his concerns with other West Island mayors and local MNA Greg Kelley. He hopes the hospital overhauls its management style.
The health ministry points to a November mediator’s report that called the lakeshore ER a ticking time bomb, and how some improvements have already been implemented since its release. Hoare said improvements have been slow.
“What we want is for no other family to live what we lived,” said Blais.
Comments