Saint Brigid's Home in Quebec City receives a failing grade from local health authority

Quebec City's anglophone community is denouncing the conditions of the city's only bilingual public long-term care home, the Saint Brigid's Home CHSLD.

In one unit of the building, 43 residents share a single bathtub.

According to Richard Walling, chairman of the Jeffery-Hale-Saint Brigid's advisory committee,  this has an impact on residents' bathing frequency and causes problems during outbreaks of contagious diseases in the 52-year-old residence.

In November 2019, a gastroenteritis outbreak claimed 11 lives in two weeks and in December 2020, 132 of 142 residents tested positive for COVID-19. More than a third, nearly 50 residents, died during a six-week outbreak.

"We have nice common areas that hide the problems on the floors, in their living environment," said Bryan O'Gallagher, president of the Jeffery-Hale Hospital-Saint Brigid's Home board of governors.

Following an analysis of the health of the building and its systems by the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Saint Brigid's Home was graded an E, "the worst grade," said O'Gallagher.

With a provincial byelection in the Jean-Talon riding where the long-term care home is located, coming up Monday, O'Gallagher is calling on the next elected official to "understand the reality of the facility that serves the entire Quebec City community," and the "importance of treating our seniors with dignity and respect."

Though he says wouldn't describe the building as "decrepit" but rather old and poorly adapted for its purposes, O'Gallagher said new construction is essential. He says refurbishing the existing facilities still wouldn't get them up to current standards.

The CHSLD was built in 1971 and has 142 places, 11 of which are in a specialized unit for residents with cognitive problems requiring closer supervision.

Some residents' bathrooms are so small that an attendant cannot enter at the same time as the person requiring care, especially if the latter uses a walker or wheelchair. No resident has a shower in the bathroom accessible from their room.

"We're talking about extremely narrow corridors that prevent two wheelchairs from passing at the same time, and 43 people for a single bathroom [for body care], which isn't up to standards," said O'Gallagher.

But the CIUSSS, which acknowledges that Saint Brigid's has "significant functional obsolescence," also says the building "undergoes regular repairs and maintenance, and remains well-maintained and safe."

The CIUSSS says it hopes the Ministry of Health and Social Services will approve Saint-Brigid's as part of the Plan québécois des infrastructures (PQI), which subsidizes repairs.

Kerry-Anne King, president of the Saint Brigid's residents' committee, has several relatives who have lived — or are currently living — there. She volunteers or visits about five days a month.