A Quebec long-term care home hard hit during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was plunged into a crisis as infections mounted among managers and staff, a coroner’s inquest heard Tuesday.
While staffing replacements were found at the last minute, the absence of its leadership team destabilized the situation at the long-term care home, Christian Gagne, head of the regional health authority, told the coroner.It wasn’t just managers who were missing. Even before the pandemic was declared, the home was short nearly a quarter of its usual staffing. In April 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, nearly two-thirds of employees were absent because they were infected, Gagne said.
On April 3, 2020, the health authority had all residents of the Sainte-Dorothee tested, with employees undergoing screening a few days later.