In a letter received by TVA Nouvelles, Health Minister Christian Dubé takes stock of the first initiatives of his health plan and explains his ambitions for the future.
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Remember that last March, Mr. Dubé presented a concrete plan to make the necessary changes in healthcare to provide Quebec residents with services and care that better meet their expectations.
Nine months later, the Minister of Health reaffirms his confidence in his health plan.
In his letter, Mr. Dubé speaks directly about the impact of the pandemic, which has not only increased provincial-level awareness of the actions needed to reform Quebec’s healthcare system, but has also created a paradigm shift in terms of the vision of the care to be provided.
“Together, the pandemic has made us aware of the state of the network and today, more than ever, we are convinced of the actions necessary to ensure that Quebec has the healthcare network it deserves. The change is based not only on our network and our people, but also on our shared vision of healthcare and services,” he explains.
Even if he is aware of his daunting task, the Minister of Health would like to reassure: not only is he accompanied by a large and competent team, but the initiatives of the health plan are already bearing fruit.
“I’ll take as an example the GPs who took on the challenge of caring for 500,000 more Quebecers. The interim target of September 30 was exceeded and the target of December 31 is on track. Add to that the opening of IPS clinics to deal with our emergencies on the island of Montreal, which is one of the recommendations of the Emergency Crisis Unit we set up a month ago,” he lists.
Mr. Dubé also recalls that these achievements were achieved despite the tight deadlines he and his team had to contend with.
“Barely 9 months have passed since we presented the health plan to the residents of Quebec. Now is not the time to get discouraged. We are moving forward with determination and determination,” he explains.
Mr Dubé says he is working with his colleagues from the immigration, education, higher education, employment and housing departments to address the province’s labor shortages.
“We are already active: we have introduced accelerated training and offered scholarships to increase the health care cohorts, especially for nurses. We will also have Treasury support for the unbundling of several professions, as we did during vaccination, to get all health professionals to work,” he explains.
Quebec’s health network has suffered a severe impact over the past two and a half years of the pandemic and continues to be impacted by respiratory viruses.
Mr Dubé promises transparency even when the news is bad.
“To ensure implementation of the health plan, we will continue to be transparent by releasing network performance indicators, even when the news isn’t always good. The solutions to improve the network have been known for a long time, but it takes courage, consultation and collective awareness, especially from network staff, the ministry and partners, to implement them,” he explains.
The health minister’s confidence in his health plan is so great that he is finally standing up for the population.
“We will give Quebecers a health network they will be proud of. I give you my word,” he promises.
Christian Dubé will be on the air from 6 p.m.