In an open letter published on Sunday, Health Minister Christian Dubé defended his “health plan”, a transformation that “takes time” while many network indicators have been in the red for months.
Posted at 4:37pm
“The solutions for improving the network have been known for a long time,” the minister states in his letter and emphasizes in the same breath that the health plan was presented “almost nine months” ago.
“Now is not the time to get discouraged,” he says.
Minister Dubé reminded of recent initiatives such as the opening of specialist nurses’ clinics (SNP) to relieve emergency departments and more patients being treated by GPs.
He points to the shortage of manpower, adding that the government “has instituted accelerated training and offered scholarships to increase the healthcare cohorts, particularly for nurses”.
He also highlights future projects, including the creation of two private mini-hospitals “to reduce emergency room congestion and provide a better patient experience.” A project led by MP Youri Chassin, former director of research at the Montreal Economic Institute, whose 2018 candidacy was particularly criticized for his positions on the privatization of the healthcare system.
We learn in his letter that Minister for Health and Elderly Sonia Bélanger will push ahead with the medical euthanasia bill, the scrutiny of which was suspended last spring. The Minister for Cybersecurity and Digital, Éric Caire, will take care of a bill “on the accessibility of health data”.
Minister Dubé’s departure comes just over a month after announcing the establishment of a crisis unit to find solutions to the recurring emergencies in the greater Montreal area.
Since then, the emergency room has been in the red, which is evidenced in particular by many patients who are struggling with respiratory viruses. Even if the latter have worsened the picture in recent weeks, the situation in the province’s hospitals has been described as critical for months.
But “we will not make our network attractive by pointing out what is going wrong,” pleads the minister in his letter published on social networks. “Of course there are things that don’t go so well, that’s for sure and I acknowledge that. But we can’t always just talk about what’s going wrong, we help discourage those who need us,” he adds.
In Ontario, where many hospitals are also struggling, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa called Red Cross workers for help, multiple media outlets reported on Sunday.
However, in an evening interview with TVA, Minister Dubé ruled out this path for the time being. “Luckily we’re not there yet,” he assured as Montreal’s children’s hospitals face exceptional traffic.