By Canadian Press

Disorganized elder care in Quebec contributed to COVID-19 death toll: report

Sep 2, 2021 | 11:44 AM

Quebec’s health and welfare commissioner says the disorganized and poorly evaluated health system for seniors contributed to the high COVID-19 death toll in the province.

Joanne Castonguay released her preliminary report today on the state of the health and social services network for seniors on the eve of the pandemic.

As of today, 11,289 people have died of COVID-19 in Quebec, many of them residents in long-term care homes and other facilities for seniors.

Castonguay says there was no official body tasked with compiling results of the evaluations conducted in long-term care homes, adding that the government didn’t evaluate the care given to seniors in private residences that had contracts with the province.

She says that as a result of the lack of proper evaluations, it was difficult to hold health-care providers accountable for their conduct during the pandemic.

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Castonguay’s final report is due at the end of December.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2021.

The Canadian Press