Quebec Public Health officials say 54 people died across the province due to the extreme heat last week, adding that most of those deaths occured in private homes and that none were reported from the province's health network.
However, the number of people to go public last week with complaints of extremely hot hospital rooms and wards has one Quebec health advocacy group calling for a coroner's inquest into the heat-related deaths.
Council for the Protection of Patients president, Paul Brunet, says that deaths that occurred in long-term health facilities such as seniors' residences may not have been counted. Brunet says the heatwave would have had an impacts on the health of patients and may have contributed to their deaths.
"We've spoken with the people at the coroner's office so that something can be looked at in a very indepenent fashion," said Brunet.
Brunet urges anyone who fears their loved one may have died as a result of the heat in a long-term care facility during the heatwave to contact the coroner's office.