Family awaits answers in death of ‘Resident 001’
Woman believes her mother was subject of probe at Laurier Manor
Last year, after a happy Easter weekend with her family near Shawville, Rita Normoyle was taken back to her residence at Extendicare Laurier Manor in Ottawa. Five days later, the 84 year old was dead.
A year and a half and numerous investigations later, Diane Champoux is still waiting for answers about what led to her mother’s death on April 2, 2016.
“She was well here, she had no problems and then … it was a shock. (I thought) ‘What the hell just happened?’ I didn’t get a lot of information.”
The death of Normoyle is one of the latest incidents being brought to light as the Citizen explores the state of this city’s nursing homes.
Champoux’s “fit as a fiddle” mother died just days after she fell, injuring her hip. A door had been slammed during an interaction between Normoyle and a support worker at Laurier Manor, according to a provincial report. It is unclear in the report whether the door made contact with the elderly resident.
The incident resulted in the firing of that support worker and numerous findings of non-compliance by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care against the residence. Police investigated as well, although they didn’t lay charges. The coroner is also investigating and has forwarded the case to the province’s Geriatric and Long-Term Care Death Review Committee.
It is expected to make recommendations based on the case.
The Citizen has reported some details of this case that were contained in a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care investigation report in which the resident was only identified as “resident #001.”
Her family says they believe that resident is Normoyle.
The pain and suffering caused by her mother’s death, says Champoux, has “just grown exponentially” in the intervening months.
“I feel cheated and angry,” she said. “Not only did Laurier Manor let her down but in my opinion so did Montfort Hospital when they shipped her back to the residence.”
Jennifer Cummins, administrator of Laurier Manor, said she could not discuss specifics of the case for privacy reasons. She added: “We can let you know that we have completed a full investigation and we took immediate action to review the circumstances and take necessary actions. I want to assure you that we maintained open communication with the family. To date we have not been contacted by the coroner’s office, although it is common for the coroner’s office to only notify the family.”
A spokesperson for Montfort Hospital said they could not comment for privacy reasons, but added: “Montfort patients and their family are always welcome to contact the hospital to query or comment on the care received or express their concerns.”
Normoyle’s death came less than a week after she spent Easter with her daughter and family at their cottage in Shawville.
Champoux and her family received a phone call from the longterm care home on Monday, not long after they had returned Normoyle to the residence, saying there had been an “incident” and she was being taken by ambulance to Montfort Hospital.
When they got there, they found Normoyle medicated for pain and in bed. Doctors told them she had a hairline fracture in her hip after a fall.
Champoux said she initially got conflicting information from staff at the long-term care home about what had happened to her mother leading up to the fall. She was first told by a staff member that her mother had been pushed.
A later investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care found that a resident, only identified as “resident #001” in the report, but identified as Normoyle by her family, described the incident, according to witnesses.
The report said a nurse overheard an exchange between a resident and a personal support worker near the entrance to another resident’s room. The nurse said the support worker told the resident, “Get out. You don’t belong here,” in an aggressive manner.
The nurse described seeing the resident stagger out of the room backwards then walk forward trying to get back in the room. At that time, the report said, the door was closed with a loud bang and the resident, who her family says is Normoyle, fell.
The support worker later told the home’s director of care that she was trying to get away from the resident who wanted to throw juice at her and she did not want to get wet.
Champoux said her mother remained at Montfort Hospital until Wednesday when she was sent back to Laurier Manor. She was told at the hospital that there was nothing they could do for her mother that couldn’t be done at the home, meaning rehabilitation therapy after her fall.
“I didn’t want them to,” Champoux said.
Normoyle, she says, who had been an avid walker until the accident, couldn’t walk when she went back to the residence.
That was on Wednesday. Early the next morning, Champoux said she got a phone call from a staff member at the residence saying they couldn’t find any vital signs when they checked her mother.
According to the ministry investigation, she was “toileted with no issue” after returning to the home from the hospital. Later she received a medication for pain and “became unresponsive.”
She was sent back to the hospital, where she was revived, but the family was told by doctors she was “very, very sick.” Normoyle was eventually taken off medications and monitors, her daughter said. Early Saturday morning, she died.
The ministry report noted the support worker fired after the incident had been disciplined in the past for “performance issues.” Based on interviews with multiple staff members, the support worker had interacted with the resident her family identifies as Normoyle “abusively” in the past, including roughly grabbing her arm in the dining hall.
The home was cited six times for non-compliance with provincial legislation, including failing to protect the resident from abuse.
The incident occurred about a year before the death of another resident, Violet Lucas, who died after her head became wedged between her mattress and the bed railing.
Champoux said she was told by police there wasn’t enough evidence for a criminal charge in her mother’s case, but suggested the family might take civil action. She said her family can’t afford a lawyer, but would welcome someone who was willing to take on the case pro bono.
“This action may prevent any other incidents like what happened to my mother and to Mrs. Lucas from happening again.”
Regional supervising coroner Louise McNaughton-Filion said the coroner’s report will determine the cause and manner of death. It will be released once the death review committee is finished its report.
“It takes a bit of time, but when the report is complete for any family we are hoping it answers their questions.”
She said cases are sent to the long-term care death review committee if they believe some good recommendations will come from them that might prevent similar deaths in the future.