© CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/REUTERS
A woman prays as she leaves flowers outside Residence Herron on April 13, 2020, a senior's long-term care facility in the suburb of Dorval in Montreal.
COVID-19 was repeatedly cited as a cause of death at the Herron nursing home
to obscure the fact that dozens of elderly residents died from thirst, malnourishment and neglect, a Quebec coroner's inquest heard Tuesday.
In an emotional testimony, an auxiliary nurse recalled how the facility in Montreal's West Island was already poorly run before the crisis, how
most of its staff abandoned their posts when the coronavirus struck, and how the local health authority then took over in a high-handed and inefficient manner.
She described discussions over
whether to triage residents in such a way that those who were dying wouldn't be fed. And she recalled harrowing scenes: a woman's body left unattended in a room shared with her husband, and nurses quarrelling in front of grieving family members.
The auxiliary nurse testified at coroner Géhane Kamel's public hearings into 47 deaths at Herron, a part of an inquest into the high death toll in Quebec nursing homes during the first wave of the pandemic.
Quebec is the only province holding public hearings on COVID-19 fatalities in long-term care, opening a rare window into a crisis that resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 of the province's care-home residents in the spring of 2020.
A recurring theme in the auxiliary nurse's testimony was the lack of humanity afforded to dying residents and their relatives. One appeared to have died of thirst after being forgotten in his room. Another family received misleading information even as an elderly resident was dying.
Comment: It's certainly a nuanced issue but this apparent push across numerous countries to legalise voluntary euthanasia, repeated attempts to get the vulnerable to sign Do Not Resuscitate forms, and campaigns to extend abortion term limits, is rather ominous:
- "Unintended consequences": Ireland's assisted suicide Bill was too flawed to continue
- 'Avoidable deaths': Do Not Resuscitate orders issued AGAIN - People with learning disabilities targeted during second lockdown
- Horrifying New York late-term abortion law at forefront of big Democrat push in US
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