Her grandmother died after a fall at a care home. She's still pushing for answers

Nearly 7 months aft Angelina Geraldi's death, her household is nary person to knowing what happened aft she fell retired of furniture astatine her semipermanent attraction installation conscionable earlier Christmas past year.

The 97-year-old died astatine CHSLD LaSalle little than a time aboriginal and the coroner opened an probe into her decease — referring the lawsuit to the Montreal police.

Since then, Geraldi's household says they've been near successful the dark.

"They're not allowed to archer you who was working. They're not allowed to archer you what's going on," said Geraldi's granddaughter, Alice Costello.

She says each the CHSLD unit were consenting to accidental was that the orderly, oregon préposées aux bénéficiaires (PAB), moving that nighttime was suspended. They were besides told the caregiver connected work was moving 2 floors and connected a interruption erstwhile the incidental occurred, Costello said.

A autumn astatine her daughter's location is what prompted Geraldi's determination to the LaSalle semipermanent attraction location a fewer years ago. Fracturing her hep and leg, Geraldi needed around-the-clock attraction and was afloat babelike connected the attraction home's unit to assistance her get successful and retired of furniture and into her wheelchair, said Costello.

An aboriginal riser, Geraldi was usually 1 of the archetypal residents the unit would get acceptable successful the morning. But erstwhile Costello popped successful for a speedy sojourn pursuing an exam astatine schoolhouse past December, her grandma was inactive successful furniture and she was surrounded by employees.

"The symptom was excruciating successful her leg," said Costello. "They were trying to find retired what happened."

WATCH | Angelina Geraldi's household inactive doesn't cognize what happened aft 97-year-old's fall:  

Another nonmigratory told Costello he'd heard Geraldi calling for assistance during the night, but nary 1 responded for hours. He told them helium buzzed for an orderly who came to her aid.

Costello said her grandma was not a tiny woman, truthful it would person taken a batch of spot to prime her up disconnected the level and get her backmost into her bed.

"She had a bruise connected her arm, her legs were bruised and the limb that was already fractured was worse. It was not capable to beryllium moved. It couldn't beryllium touched," said Costello, who precocious graduated from a location attraction assistance programme to go a PAB herself.

If a nonmigratory has fallen, it's expected to beryllium reported to the caregiver earlier immoderate effort is made to assistance them to debar further injury.

But contrary to protocol, Costello said the time unit were not alert her grandma had fallen until different nonmigratory told them the pursuing day. There was besides nary handover enactment astir the incident, said Costello.

Protocols not ever respected, says malpractice lawyer

Although the state publically committed to improving the prime of attraction successful CHSLDs pursuing the COVID-19 pandemic, aesculapian malpractice lawyer, Patrick Martin-Ménard, said successful general, it's inactive lacking.

Personnel shortages are often blamed, but Martin-Ménard said it goes deeper.

He says determination is simply a civilization of inattention and inadequate monitoring of aged radical who are often successful fragile information oregon astatine the extremity of their life.

Accidents are commonplace and protocols are not ever respected, helium said.

"I person a batch of respect for radical who enactment successful the health-care system, it's precise hard conditions, it's a precise stressful environment," said Martin-Ménard.

"Within the Quebec health-care system, determination are often situations wherever radical who are entrusted with susceptible radical bash not instrumentality attraction of these susceptible radical arsenic they should."

That's wherefore there's a request for strict monitoring to guarantee accidents are kept to a minimum, helium says.

He said it volition beryllium important to find retired if the worker connected displacement the nighttime of Geraldi's mishap was an worker of the CHSLD oregon a PAB from a backstage agency.

"Oftentimes erstwhile they entreaty to radical from agencies, determination is an contented of grooming oregon due familiarity with the existing protocols," said Martin-Ménard.

At the extremity of 2023, Quebec passed a instrumentality that would gradually signifier retired the usage of backstage agencies successful some hospitals and CHSLDs by 2026.

Unlike nurses, PABs are not portion of a nonrecreational order, says Natalie Stake-Doucet, a registered caregiver who teaches afloat clip astatine the University of Montreal's nursing school.

Unless orderlies are trained by the caput caregiver oregon get ceremonial grooming from the section wellness authority, she says they "don't needfully cognize precisely what to do."

She said a autumn is considered an accident, meaning the caregiver successful complaint indispensable beryllium informed and an incidental study filed. The study indispensable see a carnal valuation of the diligent she says, and impact the measures taken, specified arsenic informing the household oregon calling a doctor.

Family raised concerns implicit agelong waits

While Geraldi was mostly blessed with the attraction the unit provided astatine CHSLD Lasalle during the time and evening, Costello said her grandma "dreaded" nights, arsenic the installation was often short-staffed.

Costello said her grandma complained astir agelong waits to usage the washroom and delays erstwhile calling for assistance to return to bed. These issues were raised with the attraction home's medication astatine slightest 5 times, the past time, a mates months anterior to her death, she says. But Costello says it didn't truly improve.

She suspects the CHSLD, which has 202 residents dispersed implicit 3 floors, was short-staffed the nighttime her grandma fell.

"You privation determination was a camera successful the room," said Costello.

After Geraldi's fall, a doc ordered an X-ray astatine LaSalle Hospital the pursuing morning. Rather than having her hold successful a infirmary hallway, Geraldi was sent backmost to her furniture astatine the CHSLD until her transfer.

But by 6 p.m. connected December 18, little than 24 hours aft she fell, Geraldi died.

"It was truthful shocking," said Costello. "She didn't spell a time without having a sojourn from somebody. And we had seen her the time prior, connected the 17th. She was fine."

Costello said she flagged the concern to the complaints commissioner astatine the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, which oversees CHSLD Lasalle, but isn't hopeful it volition pb to immoderate meaningful change.

Family waits for Quebec coroner's investigation

The CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal extended its condolences to Geraldi's family.

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for the bureau refused to remark connected the lawsuit owed to the ongoing investigations, and did not reply questions astir whether the worker is inactive suspended oregon if immoderate changes were made astatine the attraction location since Geraldi's death.

Between March 2022 and April 2025, the CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal said determination person been 5 complaints and 3 interventions made by the complaints commissioner related to negligence by the attraction home's employees.

Late past month, the Service de constabulary de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) determined determination was nary transgression constituent progressive successful Geraldi's death. As a result, the probe is present solely successful the hands of the coroner's bureau which would lone corroborate that an probe is ongoing.

Costello says her full household is eagerly awaiting the coroner's report, not lone to get to the bottommost of what happened and decently grieve, but to rise consciousness astir what's going connected successful CHSLDs.

She worries astir what is happening with residents who don't person a enactment strategy oregon household who tin advocator for them.

Through her ain grooming arsenic a PAB, she says not everyone is suited to the work.

She besides knows that erstwhile a diligent falls connected your watch, it tin beryllium hard not to privation to assistance instantly — adjacent if that goes against procedure.

"But there's a protocol. Just due to the fact that idiosyncratic has fallen does not mean you are astatine responsibility for it. But you are astatine responsibility if you marque it worse," said Costello.