Cries, calls ignored and a coroner's investigation at Quebec care home where families allege neglect

Guy Maisonneuve was emotional as he dropped his 95-year-old mother, Aline Besner, off at the Villa des Brises care home in Gatineau, Quebec, on February 26. Upon arrival, he noticed the smell of urine in her room, staff avoiding eye contact, and no assistance in helping Besner into bed. This was just the beginning of her stay on the second floor of the private facility, operated in part by the regional health authority, the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO).

The second floor is intended for temporary stays, providing post-acute care or rehabilitation for individuals awaiting either a return home or transfer to long-term care.

"From the moment I stepped into the villa, I was filled with dread, absolute dread," said Maisonneuve, speaking from his kitchen, just steps from the room where he had hoped his mother would spend her final days at home.

After being diagnosed with advanced dementia at Wakefield Hospital, Besner moved to the transitional unit at Villa des Brises while waiting for a permanent placement in long-term care. Initial concerns escalated when a fellow resident told Maisonneuve that Besner had been falling, lacked access to drinking water, wasn’t regularly bathed, and that her emergency call button was often out of reach or ignored for hours.

Besner passed away in a hospital on April 14, surrounded by family. The Quebec coroner's office is now investigating her death.

Several other families and former residents are also coming forward, accusing the facility of abuse and incompetence on the transitional floor.

The care home declined to comment on specific incidents, and both Mandala Santé, the home’s management company, and the CISSSO refused repeated requests for interviews.

"Every fibre of our being was screaming, get her out of there," said Maisonneuve's wife, Shelley Langlois. "And that's what she would say: just get me out, take me out of here."

Maisonneuve added, "I will regret it for the rest of my life that I didn’t take her out."

Connecting with other residents, Maisonneuve and Langlois realized that Besner wasn’t the only one facing neglect.

Cries for Help

On the night of April 11, Besner cried for help for nearly six hours, according to her former neighbor, Sharon Nobert, but no one came. Nobert, who was recovering from a broken ankle and knee, said she "didn't sleep a wink" and even joined in calling for help.

"I was yelling, too, for somebody to come and help her," Nobert said. "Nobody did."

The next morning, as Nobert was being taken to breakfast, she saw Besner being taken away on a stretcher by paramedics. It was the last time she saw her.

Besner had lost consciousness at the care home and never regained it after being taken to Hull Hospital. Her family made the decision to pursue end-of-life care.

Before she passed, doctors discovered "profound bed sores" on Besner's back, which the family had been unaware of. The doctors took photographs of the open, bruised sores and filed a complaint against the residence, prompting the coroner’s investigation.

"It was a long, rich, beautiful life. And for the last six weeks of it to have been such a horrifying nightmare—we're stuck there," said Langlois.

'Every Single Day I Found Incompetence'

Former resident Steve Connolly was devastated by Besner’s situation. Connolly, who lived down the hall from Besner, documented his experiences in nearly 40 pages of notes during his seven-week stay.

Now back home in Low, Quebec, Connolly is sounding the alarm about what he calls inadequate emergency response times and mismanagement. "Every single day I found incompetence, indifference, negligence, and abuse," Connolly said.

He has been in contact with Quebec’s complaint commissioner, though he feels unsupported, based on