On Friday, the Bas-Saint-Laurent regional table of elected local officials called on the Minister for Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, to demand solutions that put an end to this vicious circle.
Their demands include incentives to promote the practice in the regions and a change in status of the Mont Joli Emergency Center to allow for resident physicians.
We’re talking about health, we’re not talking about a service that can wait a week. When people have needs, we expect an immediate response. When there are disruptions and delays because people need to be moved, there are risks, says Chantal Lavoie, prefect of the MRC de La Matapédia and a member of the table.
Chantale Lavoie, Prefect of the MRC de La Matapédia and member of the regional table of elected municipal officials of Bas-Saint-Laurent (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada / Jean-François Deschênes
The CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent has been forced in recent weeks to close the obstetrics department at the Matane and Amqui hospitals due to staff shortages.
Let’s ensure that there are more educated people, people who could be more mobile, who could make up for the lack of manpower, [offrons] Bonuses, suggests Ms. Lavoie.
In Mont-Joli, the hospital’s opening hours for minor emergencies are reduced at weekends for the third consecutive summer due to staff shortages.
According to MRC de La Mitis prefect and table member Bruno Paradis, this situation has existed for long enough.
It is necessary that there is a minor emergency and the opening hours remain the same. […] If there’s an emergency, we want to be sure that we have an answer, that we can handle the small emergency and that we won’t be stuck in front of a closed door, he explains.
Bruno Paradis, Prefect of the MRC de La Mitis and member of the regional table of local elected officials of Bas-Saint-Laurent (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada / Simon Turcotte
Bruno Paradis also asks Minister Dubé to do more so that the Mont Joli emergency depends on that of Rimouski. Given the staff shortage, medical staff from the Rimouski Regional Hospital are regularly dispatched to the La Mitis Hospital Center.
The PQ attacks the Minister of Health
For his part, Matane-Matapédia MP Pascal Bérubé regretted Christian Dubé’s silence. The PQ accuses him of having only traveled to Bas-Saint-Laurent to highlight the achievements of his political party.
He comes when he has announcements to make. The minister is on site to inaugurate a pavilion for medicine. However, when the population does not have access to services, the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent is asked to take over communications, but the minister is not there. For what? In order not to associate it with bad news, Pascal Bérubé starts.
MP for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada / Sylvain Roy Roussel
The MEP calls for healthcare workers in Bas-Saint-Laurent to enjoy the same benefits as those in Gaspésie. The latter are entitled to higher lump sums.
“We must have very advantageous conditions and ensure that we have a maximum of services on site so that the Matane and Amqui hospitals depend as little as possible on those of Rimouski. »
– A quote from Pascal Bérubé, MP for Matane-Matapédia
For its part, the Department of Health and Human Services writes that it must strike a balance between giving Quebecers access to quality care and respecting vacation time for all members [du] Employees.
He adds that he has taken several measures to avoid service disruptions, including setting up a network of obstetricians.
Minister for Bas-Saint-Laurent Maïté Blanchette Vézina had still not responded to Radio-Canada’s request for an interview late Friday afternoon.
In collaboration with Isabelle Damphousse