“(staffing) was a concern even back in, i would say, spring of 2019,” hermon said at the beginning of her testimony. “the number of patients was increasing, but the number of nurses was not.”
hermon said she grew concerned when the pandemic began in part because she knew the home had no director of care.
“i was worried that there was no proper preparation for testing, for disinfection, for the protocols,” she said.
hermon said she inquired about personal protective equipment on march 23 and was told by the home’s then-director, andrei stanica, that he was actively trying to find it.
“he confirmed to me that there’s no equipment at all in the building,” hermon said. “none at all.”
echoing comments from earlier witnesses, hermon said there were communication problems between the ciusss de l’ouest-de-l’île-de-montréal staff and the herron staff once the former arrived on site.
she said hot and cold zones weren’t established at the home until after her return in mid-april, when residents were tested en masse.
dozens of residents had already died by that point
.
the other doctors who served herron residents alongside hermon are scheduled to testify wednesday afternoon.
a nurse who testified in the morning said the home was lacking equipment at the start of the pandemic to the point that she had to take the vital signs of each resident without sterilizing the device between uses.