Nurses in Mauricie and Center-du-Québec continue to grumble. Around 300 of them shouted their displeasure in front of the Trois-Rivières hospital on Sunday afternoon.
• Also read: Lachine Hospital emergency room under threat: protesters condemn MUHC’s decision
For the hundreds of health professionals from the region who have gathered in Trois-Rivières for a large demonstration, there is no doubt that health care and services to the population will be affected by the measures recently announced by the CIUSSS MCQ.
They yelled their disagreement with vigor outside the Regional Affiliated University Hospital Center on Sunday.
“Our working conditions have been deteriorating for three years, this has to stop,” said a nurse interviewed by our journalist Molly Béland during the demonstration.
The new working conditions are not for everyone. Many nurses will have to work one weekend in three and potentially across multiple departments as a result of a merger.
“It’s far from just a weekend out of three, expertise is important for user safety,” another nurse explains to our journalist.
For now, only the Drummondville MRC is affected by these new measures, but it is only a matter of time before it applies to the rest of the region, but negotiations with the management of the CIUSSS continue.
“We would merge certain centers of activity, like the School Health Directorate, with Drummondville’s CHSLDs,” says Patricia Maillot, president of the Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec FIQ. “Otherwise we offer an option B, which is not provided for in the collective agreement, but we would come to group positions.”