Quebec Health Ministry issued directive that kept seniors in long-term care out of hospitals during first wave

A doctor in charge of more than 30 patients during the first wave of COVID-19 at Quebec’s worst-hit long-term care home says there was a Health Ministry directive to avoid sending residents to hospital.

As a result, Dr. Tu Anh Nguyen told an inquest into the death of one of the home’s residents Wednesday, that she called the families of her patients to discuss what level of care they should receive in case of distress. 

Nguyen was testifying at the last day of the inquest into the death of 94-year-old Anna José Maquet, who was a resident at CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée in