The internal restructuring of the CIUSSS de la Mauricie et du Center-du-Québec is already leading to the departure of nurses who are actively looking for a new job.
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While Minister Christian Dubé announced two weeks ago that he would restore health professions, abolish private providers and retain know-how in public institutions, exactly the opposite is happening in the region.
This is the case of Nancy Champoux, who has been a nurse in Trois-Rivières for 10 years. She is currently looking for a new job and has already submitted her CV to several places.
“I’m looking for a job in the public service. For example, I applied to a Retraite Québec call center. It’s not in the realm of nursing at all.
I don’t belong here. But I tell myself at the same time: I’m willing to change jobs if it’s about better mental health,” she confided.
Steve Sawyer also started the process. This nurse in Nicolet has been feeling betrayed by his employer for the past three weeks and has been wracked with anger. He has shown interest elsewhere, including in private clinics.
“I never thought it would come to this. To be honest, I thought I was going to end my career for CUSSS. It went well, I had a good job. I’m super happy in the position I currently have. But everything is turned upside down. We’re really moving towards a new reform, a bit like what we saw with the Liberals, and then I really don’t want to go through that again. We’re just starting to recover from that,” he said.
TVA also met a nurse who, two years after retiring, was considering leaving early. There are dozens of them preparing to exit, exiting a healthcare network that no longer resembles them. The love of the profession is no longer strong enough to alleviate their working conditions.
“Today another bomb fell. We will play within the holiday quotas. I had never thought about leaving the public network before. Never,” confided Stéphanie Gignac, nurse on the network.
Other CIUSSSs and CISSSs are taking advantage of the conflict in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec to recruit disaffected nurses. Many layoffs are being prepared while the network is already struggling with staff shortages.