In response to the Prime Minister’s call, Liberal elected officials are going to swap their clothes for blouses and masks in order to lend a hand in CHSLDs hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis.
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Even before this S.O.S of François Legault, this call to the front had become insistent for the deputy Enrico Ciccone. Last Friday, the date of his birthday, he said he received as “a shovel in the face” the news of the death of 31 seniors at the CHSLD Herron, located in his riding of Marquette.
“This is the job of the deputy [d’aller sur le terrain]. I know some people say, “What’s going to happen if something happens to you?” But honestly what will happen to me will happen. Right now there are elderly people who are dying, who are being abused, it is not going well, and they need help, “said the former hockey player in an interview.
He will thus give a helping hand to the Nazaire-Piché Accommodation Center in Lachine, with at least five members of his constituency team, to make calls to relatives, help residents eat and drink and to do laundry.
“Not everyone is comfortable doing everything, but I said” anything “”, said the MP adding that he had convinced several of his former colleagues including Gilbert Delorme and George Laracque, join the effort.
As a former epidemiology researcher in a CHSLD, the Liberal MP for Maurice-Richard, Marie Montpetit, also offered her expertise to the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’île-de-Montréal where the death toll is low shiny.
“Given the urgency and the needs that there are in CHSLDs, the thing to do in my opinion was to use my expertise for our seniors,” she explains. It is a duty as a citizen […]. “
Although she still did not know the place where she will be assigned at the time of the interview, Thursday afternoon, she assures that the process was done quickly with the authorities of the CIUSSS.
Marie Montpetit does not hide it, the situation requires “sacrifices” like isolating herself from her family while she works in CHSLD.
“Am I afraid?” This is not a question I have asked myself at this point. There is a need for help, I’m going to help, “she said, adding hoping that her expertise in epidemiology could be put to use.
Their colleague and former Minister of Health, Gaétan Barrette, has also offered to help, but does not yet know where he will be assigned, the Quebec Liberal Party was told.
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