Owner of St-hubert CHSLD lost permit in 2017 after two deaths
Kaufman is part owner of four other seniors’ residences in Quebec
The co-owner of a private CHSLD in St-hubert — where 44 of 47 seniors have COVID -19 — lost a permit to operate a similar residence in Trois-rivières in 2017 following the deaths of two seniors who were inadvertently locked outside overnight.
The son of one of the dead residents is seeking $2 million in damages from real estate agent Abraham Kaufman and his business partners.
André Bourassa, 79, died in February 2017 after being locked out of his ground floor room at la Villa du Jardin Fleuri.
His room came with a door that led directly outside. The door locked automatically behind him whenever he would leave. An employee found him on the ground the next morning. He froze through the night and died of hypothermia.
Less than a year earlier, 93-yearold Thérèse Roberge died under similar circumstances. Roberge got locked outside in the middle of the night, lost her footing and injured her head in a fall. She died in a hospital a few days later.
The local health authority revoked the residence’s permit in 2017 after the two deaths and following several infractions, including not having a proper safety escape plan and operating with an insufficient number of employees during the night.
Bourassa’s son, François, said he pressured the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-centre-du-québec to close the residence following his father’s death.
“I contacted a lawyer and said we have to shut it down — people are dying,” he said on Tuesday.
Less than a year after it closed, the empty residence burned to the ground. The Montreal Gazette has not been able to confirm the cause of the blaze.
On Monday, Kaufman showed up at CHSLD Notre-dame de la Victoire in St-hubert, three days after the health authority took control of the home, after almost all the residents and staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Several security guards and Longueuil police kept watch while Kaufman was inside the building.
Last week, the janitor and his wife prepared meals for three days at the residence after the cook became ill. Kaufman is part owner of four other seniors’ residences in Quebec. He has not returned phone calls from the Montreal Gazette.
On Monday night, he released a statement thanking health-care workers who had intervened and said residents are getting “excellent care.”
About 4,000 seniors living in long-term public and private centres are infected across Quebec. Many residences are shortstaffed because employees are sick, self-isolating or are afraid to come to work.
Prior to the pandemic, Christianne Lamoureux went to the residence in St-hubert three times a week to fix her mother’s hair, give her a pedicure or have lunch. The residence was always clean and staff worked hard to make the residents comfortable, she said.
Over the weekend, Lamoureux received a call from a doctor asking what steps should be taken if her mother becomes seriously ill.
“They wanted to know what to do if she has to be intubated,” she said. “I don’t want her to die alone.”