Within the first four weeks of entering the Montreal Geriatric Institute on Queen Mary road the family of 88 year old Corinne Ledwidge Cordella says she went from walking and eating on her own to being confined in a wheelchair, sedated.
When they began raising concerns about the medication to doctors and management, daughter in law Zora Maher says things got worse.
"My mother in law had bruises now, they were finger print bruises," she says. "Everytime we mentioned anything there were more things on my mother in law - so we learned to shut up."
She says they noticed workers being rough with Cordella, especially when it came to bathing and feeding, they panicked when they discovered she had broken ribs that no one could explain.
"That's when we saw the arm; a gash out of it, bruising," says Maher. "We asked about that and nobody had any clue about how it happened."
The family wanted her moved immediately and approached their local MNA Kathleen Weil on Friday, they heard by Monday she was moving to St Andrews geriatric institute in NDG.
Maher says she noticed other residents sedated and treated roughly by staff, and feels that the public should be aware of the conditions inside the institute.
IUGM administrators wont comment on the details of the case - but Monique Guay with the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud de l’Île de Montréal said in an email that
"The CIUSSS of Center-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal applies a policy of 'zero tolerance' regarding maltreatment in all of its facilities" and "Users and families who have doubts about the quality of care and services are encouraged to complain immediately without fear of retaliation."
Mahar says the Quebec Ombudsman is proceeding with an analysis of her complaint.