long-term care home

By Trevor Greenway

An inspection by Quebec’s investigation department has found that Villa des Brises long-term care home, where Masham resident Aline Maisonneuve was found unconscious in her room and died two days later in April 2024, failed nearly half of its operational measures mandated by the province, including having a faulty call-for-help system for patients. 

According to the January 2024 inspection report by the Direction des Inspections et des Enquêtes, the Villa des Brises care home facility in Gatineau was non-compliant in 18 out of 37 categories. The report was obtained through an access-to-information request. 

Among the biggest infractions cited by the report were a faulty call-for-help system, which was connected to care staff’s cellphones rather than a central line in the home. Several patients of Villa des Brises the Low Down spoke with reported pulling the alarm systems for help, only for their pleas to go unanswered. 

Maisonneuve, a Masham senior, was a patient at the home in 2024. She died in the Hull Hospital on April 14, 2024, after fellow patients reported that her screams for help went unanswered throughout the night two days earlier at Villa des Brises. Doctors found bedsores on her back and torso and a coroner is now investigating her death. 

According to the inspection report, the home also got a failing grade for its fire safety plan, as its resident list was not up to date. The home also failed under the “risk of wandering” category, as it does not feature an alarm system to alert staff if patients wander out of the building. 

The inspection also revealed that staff regularly left hazardous products around the home unattended.

“Presence of a bottle of odoriferating solution concentrated in the fifth floor residents’ bedroom. Cart containing several household products left unattended,” the report stated. At the time of the report, the home also had issues with its liability insurance and had no collaboration or cooperation agreements with intensive care units or prescription drug providers. 

A second inspection in June 2024 revealed the home was still non compliant in six categories, including the faulty call-for-help system, the home’s fire safety plan, as well as a risk of wandering. 

Maisonneuve’s son, Guy, and her daughter-in-law, Shelley Langlois, have been trying to get justice for their loved one for over a year and say the inspection shows just how bad things were at Villa des Brises while Maisonneuve stayed there.

“It puts into perspective just how bad things were at the Villa des Brises/CISSS de l’Outaouais residence,” said Langlois. “Many of the serious problems were documented as far back as January 2024 and yet patients kept being placed there.”

A coroner’s report into Maisonneuve’s death is expected to be released sometime this June.