Former Prime Minister Robert Bourassa’s daughter, Michelle Bourassa, stood up again Friday night to defend the right to a pain-free, dignified death.
Her mother, Andrée Simard, died in agony at St Mary’s Hospital Center last November. Mrs. Simard lived three days without palliative sedation, which would have guaranteed her a dignified and pain-free end of life. Michelle Bourassa, on the other hand, fought hard to free her mother and suffered threats of eviction from the nurses, who accused her of breaking the bond of trust.
The latter has now founded the group #mortensilence to denounce the conditions of end-of-life care. “What I went through was absolutely horrible and excruciating. For my mother and our whole family. That’s how it happened. There was an incredible showdown, an opacity. There was no way to make things happen. I was ashamed [de notre système de santé]Ms. Bourassa told Stéphan Bureau on the set of the show Le monde à l’envers on Friday night.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, TOMA ICZKOVITS
Health Minister Christian Dubé, present on the set of the show to defend his new reform, recognized and condemned the quality of the network’s services. “It doesn’t make sense that we’re treated like that in the hospital and I, it’s coming to get me,” he commented, adding that he “knew what a good healthcare system was” when he worked in Switzerland.
“There is an access problem here. It’s a quality of service issue,” he continued, specifying that he was defending the patient.
With his healthcare reform bill presented on Wednesday, Christian Dubé recognizes that many changes need to be made, “whether it’s healthcare professionals, unions, CEOs, everybody,” he told the Stéphan Bureau on Friday night.
For her part, Ms Bourrassa suggested that the minister deploy palliative care teams in hospitals at all times, work to offer better care at home, as well as a better allocation of resources.
The week’s debaters Yasmine Abdelfadel, Guy Nantel, Sophie Durocher and Biz discussed the return of employees to the office with Sébastien Vachon, the big boss of the technology company Korem. In particular, the specialist in spatial intelligence tries to rebalance the relationship between employees and employers and to upgrade jobs.
Comedian Cathy Gauthier was the guest of the week.
Le monde à l’envers is shown on TVA every Friday at 8pm.