Emails obtained by CBC News indicate CHSLD Herron remained critically short-staffed after it was put into trusteeship, but the regional health agency did not take steps to fix the problem until April 8 — a week and a half after it took over.
On April 4, Trisha went back to work at the Résidence CHSLD Herron in Dorval, in Montreal’s West Island — her first shift in more than a week.
What she saw surprised her. Many of the residents she used to care for were gone. Their beds were empty.
“I was so scared,” said Trisha. “Where are all these people? I asked the person in charge. He said, ‘They are not all dead.’ He could not give me an answer.”
Trisha, whose true identity CBC has agreed to conceal out of concern for professional repercussions, described chaos at the Herron, nearly one week after the home — a private, unsubsidized long-term care residence — was put under provincial trusteeship.
Trisha is one of nine staff members at the Herron with whom CBC spoke in recent days. All worked in the home after its daily operations were taken over by the regional health agency, the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
They describe working without appropriate protective equipment, not knowing which residents had tested positive for COVID-19, and being so short-staffed on some shifts that they weren’t able to meet the basic needs of the 130 residents.
Records from the owners of CHSLD Herron indicate that, of the 31 residents known to have died at the home since the start of the pandemic, 28 of them died under the watch of the regional health agency.
Emails obtained by CBC News indicate the CIUSSS was aware the Herron remained critically short-staffed after it was taken into trusteeship, but it did not fix the problem until April 8 — a week and a half after it took over.
The Herron’s owners, Samir Chowieri and his daughters Katherine, Tanya and Samantha Chowieri, whose company is called Groupe Katasa, contend they went to the regional health agency seeking help — and that the CIUSSS made a bad situation worse.
What follows is an account of what has happened inside the Herron from the point the administrators sought help, based on interviews with nine people who work or have worked there and documents obtained by CBC News.
Patient Zero
Until March 27, CHSLD Herron was frequently understaffed, but it was functioning, staff said.
On that date, the first Herron resident tested positive for COVID-19. He was taken to hospital and later died.
Nurses were getting sick, too: six out of the seven registered nurses on staff were experiencing COVID symptoms, and of seven licensed practical nurses (LPNs), only four were still healthy.
By Herron’s own admission, it did not have appropriate personal protection equipment for staff. An email correspondence between Samantha Chowieri and the CIUSSS shows that Chowieri requested PPE from the regional health agency on March 23 but was denied.
By March 28, three more LPNs had fallen sick and went home — leaving just one LPN standing.
About a quarter of the orderlies (préposés aux bénéficiares, or patient attendants) had also stopped working — either because they were experiencing COVID symptoms or because they felt it was no longer safe to work at CHSLD Herron.
Within weeks, a quarter of those patient attendants would test positive for COVID-19.
Asking for help
In a news conference held on April 11, Premier François Legault accused staff of “abandoning” the Herron and its residents.
Not true, according to Groupe Katasa documents: most of the absent staff were either waiting to be tested or already sick.
On March 29, Samantha Chowieri texted Brigitte Auger, the associate director of long-term care at the CIUSSS. She had run out of LPNs, or auxiliary nurses.
“We have no more auxiliary nurses available tonight. Please call me because we’re no longer able to give the necessary services. None of the agencies want to come,” read the text.
At 2:49 p.m., Auger wrote back.
“Hello, on conference call with the ministry. I got your email, any employees came in?”
Chowieri responded: “We need support, do you have other means we can use to help?”
At 4:29 p.m., Auger replied that a doctor and a nurse were on their way to help. Later, she texted again to say that she had found a nurse and an orderly, or