93-year-old dies after 36 hours on balcony of Quebec seniors' residence

A 93-year-old woman has died after she was alone for 36 hours on the balcony of her apartment in Saguenay, Que.

Marie-Rose Gauthier was a resident of a home for autonomous seniors, Manoir Champlain, and her family said she was very happy there in her apartment equipped for independence. She was able to welcome family members and cook meals.

But on June 23, she fell while out on her balcony and was unable to call for help. She was stuck there for some 36 hours until someone notified the residence that they hadn't been able to reach her.

The woman was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia when she was taken to hospital. She died three days later.

Her daughter, Denise Ouellet, said it appears she fell face first and lost consciousness. Friction wounds on her mother's elbows show that she tried to get up off the cement floor, she said.

Her family wants to see regulations changed and to force residences to better monitor seniors at risk of falling.

But the Manoir Champlain's administration says the victim refused to wear an alert bracelet, refused to move into an apartment with more supervision and cancelled her telephone alarm system.

"We can't do more," said Nathalie Boivin, director of nursing and staff at the residence.

"It's a home for autonomous, retired people, and we try to give them as many choices as possible for their safety, but, you know, we can't force them."

Manoir Champlain is located about 170 kilometres north of Quebec City.

With 404 units, it serves autonomous and semi-autonomous residents, as well as those in recovery. Meals and snacks can be served at home. Housekeepers and personal assistance services are also available.

Boivin said she will respect the coroner's finding in this case.

Quebec studying senior home regulations

The Quebec government is also waiting for those findings before reacting to Gauthier's case. The government is already reviewing regulations surrounding seniors' residences.

The discussion has been front and centre since Hélène Rowley Hotte Duceppe, the 93-year-old mother of former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, died of hypothermia in Montreal this past winter. The Quebec coroner has since determined her death could have been prevented.

Quebec's minister in charge of seniors, Marguerite Blais, is working on new safety procedures for seniors' homes in the province, "so that never again will this sort of terrible accident happen," said Premier François Legault when the coroner's report was published last month.

Andrée Laforest, the minister of municipal affairs and housing, said pride also plays a factor as autonomous seniors do not always want to be watched around the clock. 

A province-wide seniors federation, the Fédération de l'âge d'or du Québec (FADOQ), says increasing regulations and monitoring increases costs and those costs are then passed onto the residents.

That means, the organization says, that each new rule reduces access to housing for less-affluent seniors.