home care 'failed' ottawa man whose death is now under investigation
3 minute read
norine gagnon's brother, john lacombe (pictured), died alone in his apartment in january. ontario health athome had closed his file because he was not answering his phone.
julie oliver
/
postmedia
the death of an ottawa man earlier this year while waiting for home care is under investigation, ontario’s minister of health sylvia jones confirmed.
“the situation … is under active investigation. it was immediately when ontario health athome realized what had happened,” jones told the ontario legislature on april 2.
the minister of health was responding to questions from ndp mpp chandra pasma who represents the ottawa west — nepean riding where 62-year-old john lacombe lived. he died, alone in his apartment, in january having never received the home care help he desperately needed, says his family.
pasma called lacombe’s death “a complete breakdown of care and accountability under the supervision of the minister of health. no one should be left alone, unheard, and without support in their most vulnerable moments.”
his death is raising questions about oversight in ontario’s growing home care system which is delivered by hundreds of contracters but managed centrally by the provincial agency ontario health athome. the agency only contacted lacombe’s sister to say it was looking into the death after it was contacted by a reporter about the case. this week the health minister said the province is working with the home care agency to make sure “oversight happens.”
lacombe died in the apartment while waiting for home care that he had been approved for. someone from ontario health athome, the provincial agency that oversees home care, contacted his sister, norine gagnon, to say they were closing his file because he was not answering the phone and they were unable to initiate services. later that day, police found lacombe dead in his apartment after family members asked them to do a wellness check, she said. gagnon was told he had likely been dead for a week.
“john should have been receiving daily visits from home care, but ontario health athome closed his file saying they couldn’t contact him to make arrangements, despite the fact that they had been told he couldn’t answer the phone because of his condition,” pasma told the legislature. “they called (his sister) to say they were discharging him without ever having checked on him or done anything more than make a few phone calls. despite all of his sister’s advocacy, john died alone,” said pasma.
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she called the case a devastating example of a home care system that is failing the very people it is meant to protect. “the system completely failed john and it failed his family.”
a copy of a family photo of john lacombe, 62, who in january was found dead in the west-end ottawa apartment in where he lived alone.
julie oliver
/
postmedia
lacombe’s health had deteriorated significantly in the months before his death. in early 2025, he had a stroke and subsequently had difficulty getting to the phone — something gagnon said she told the representative of ontario health athome she spoke with about getting him some help.
he also suffered from cardiac issues leading to shortness of breath but arrangements were never made for him to have oxygen at home, added gagnon, a retired nurse. she said she repeatedly asked health professionals to help him get care at home over a period of more than a year and, in the days before his death, asked them to knock on his door or do a wellness check.
jones said she could not comment on an individual case, saying it would not be fair to the patient, the family or the ongoing investigation.
jones said a focus of the provincial investments in home care are on oversight “because we want to make sure that when people leave hospitals that they have access to home care … we will continue to work with ontario health athome to make sure that oversight happens.”
pasma noted that ontario health athome apparently didn’t start investigating the case until two months after lacombe’s death when gagnon contacted the ottawa citizen. she later heard from an official saying the agency was taking a deep dive to find out what went wrong.
“ontario must take immediate action to ensure no family ever experiences a preventable loss like this again,” said pasma.
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