Families sharply rebuke private Herron nursing home, coroner extends inquiry

Family members who lost loved ones at a Montreal long-term care home where 47 people died during the pandemic's first wave told a coroner's inquest Thursday that caring for society's most vulnerable should not be a for-profit exercise.

Thursday was supposed to be the final day of hearings for the privately-owned Herron nursing home, but coroner Gehane Kamel decided to hear more witnesses at the end of October because she said testimony had been contradictory and left her with too many unanswered questions.

She added that she would also like to view video surveillance footage to determine whether employees at the facility abandoned their posts on March 29, 2020, leaving residents alone.

The inquiry has heard that regional health authorities arrived at the severely understaffed facility on that day to find residents dehydrated, unfed and soiled.

"At least then it will feel like I have closed the loop with Herron," Kamel said Thursday about her decision to extend the hearings. "Maybe I won't have all of my answers, but at least I can sleep soundly."

Peter Barrette's father, Leon, died at the care home after he had been admitted on March 27, 2020, the day the first COVID-19 case had been identified at the facility. He said despite three weeks of testimony, he would probably never know what happened to his dad.

He told the inquiry the province should nationalize private long-term care homes in order to ensure the primary goal of the facilities is to "provide humane care" and not to "make profits for the owners."