Quebec seniors' minister wants answers after report reveals neglect at care home in Lévis

Quebec Seniors' Minister Marguerite Blais said she was "devastated" after reading a damning report of neglect and mismanagement at the Manoir Liverpool in Lévis, a seniors' home located across the river from Quebec City.

The report, created by the regional health authority for Chaudière Appalaches, revealed patients were underfed, infrequently changed and bathed, and given expired medication over a period of five years.

According to the report, which was made public on Friday, residents at the private facility "were subject to at least two types of mistreatment: physical and organizational."

Blais said she is awaiting an explanation from the director of the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches, Daniel Paré, about why this neglect went unchecked.

"It's up to him to answer, it's up to him to tell us what decisions he has taken, why and what measures he has put in place," she said.

Paré is temporarily away from his regular job because he is running the province's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

In an email, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry confirmed that Christian Dubé is aware of the report.

"We have every confidence that Mr. Paré will be able to explain his decisions. The Minister of Health is clear that this report is by no means the end of this story. We will dig further, until all the questions are answered."

After reading the report, Blais sent a letter to all the heads of the regional health boards in the province giving them until Feb. 26 to submit a plan to monitor the quality of care provided at facilities under their jurisdiction.

Blais said regional health boards need to be held accountable for what goes on at private and public seniors' residences.

"I want to let them know again that they have a legal responsibility for the services that they give directly to the population or through resources," she said in an interview with CBC.

The owners of the Manoir Liverpool have refused multiple requests for comment.

According to Radio-Canada, the owners are being forced to sell Manoir Liverpool or else they will lose their certification and public contracts.

The owners also run two other private residences in the region and Blais has ordered an investigation into one of them, the Pavillon Bellevue.

In a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon, the director of Manoir Liverpool, Nicole Robert, wrote that the incidents highlighted in the report took place between 2014 and June 2020. 

She said that since then, a new team of managers was brought in and that staff had made a "180 turn."

"This investigation shined a light on elements that were corrected since June 2020," wrote Robert.

She said the new team is collaborating with the CISSS and that "all the residents, the employees and the workers from the CISSS say there has been a significant improvement since June 2020."

See something, say something

The outbreaks of COVID-19 at seniors' residences and long-term care homes have revealed multiple instances of neglect and mistreatment at Quebec's institutions.

Blais said there needs to be a shift in the way the province takes care of its elderly and disabled population.

She hopes to see Quebec review its laws on abuse and neglect and impose harsher penalties for senior's homes that don't properly care for the elderly.

But she said more importantly, those that work in the system need to speak up.

"People have to call out situations when it's going bad, we cannot just close our eyes, close our ears and not take care of these vulnerable people."