Dying man failed to give proper notice: care home

Partner/executor angered by bill for $800 for half a month’s rent

VANCOUVER — When Pierre Rossignol last left the Amenida Senior Care Home in Surrey in the back of an ambulance in May, the 75-year-old was in the throes of a massive heart attack. He lasted long enough to get to Surrey Memorial Hospital, where he died as emergency staff were talking to his partner, Crissi Flynn, asking if he had a “do not resuscitate” order on his file.

Given the alacrity with which Rossignol left his room in the assisted living facility, Flynn was flabbergasted to recently receive a bill for $800 from Amenida because, as it stated, “the deceased didn’t give proper notice that he was leaving the facility.”

“Imagine that!” Flynn said Wednesday. “I’m shocked that they would insist on notice when he was clearly dying.”

Flynn, 75, is the executor of Rossignol’s very small estate. Her companion of 28 years left about $16,000, but Flynn said she’s so offended by Amenida’s letter demanding the last halfmonth’s rent on his vacant room that she’s refusing to pay. “I’m not eating dog food so I’m not destitute, but I think this is morally wrong.”

She said she was particu- larly miffed because after Rossignol died she told staff they could keep some of his art work and carvings, and she directed other pieces to be left for the residents to enjoy.

Teena Love, the general manager of the privatelyowned independent and assisted living home, said it’s all a misunderstanding. Care facilities generally have contracts that require residents to give notice and pay the last month’s rent before they leave. If a resident dies, the burden falls to the estate.

In Amenida’s case, the company generally doesn’t bother with the notice provision, especially since many residents sit on long waiting lists for beds in higher-care facilities, she said.

When Rossignol died, Amenida didn’t plan on sending out a final bill, Love said. It was only after it received a letter from the probate lawyer representing Flynn asking for information that the company sent in its bill.

“We weren’t planning on asking for the money. We didn’t generate an invoice. But then we received a letter from Crissi’s lawyer asking for contact information for some step-children and also asking us if there was anything owing on his account,” Love said. “So we sent in the bill. We’ve never spoken to Crissi about this.”

Flynn said the care home should have given her the bill when Rossignol’s room was cleaned out a week after he died. “To get this two months later as we’re trying to get this through probate was a shock,” she said.