Hospitals: closed in the summer due to lack of staff

Emergencies, obstetrics, surgeries, and home care: Dozens of medical services were not provided to residents across Quebec this summer, Newspaper.

• Read also: Occupancy rate 200%: Emergencies experienced their worst in years

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This summer, Quebecers are suffering the dire consequences of understaffing in the health network. Women will have to give birth outside the home, patients will have to wait for surgery and patients in intensive care will have to be transferred to another hospital due to the lack of available beds.

Paul Brunet, president of the Patient Protection Board, reacts, “We shouldn’t get sick these days. I can understand why we wanted to give (employees) a break, but we haven’t stopped paying our taxes.”

The closure of the emergency room at Gatineau Hospital at the end of June caused quite a stir and caused a lot of anxiety. However, this breakdown in service is far from isolated, reviews show magazine (see table). A list not compiled by the Department of Health and Social Services (MSSS).

While breakouts generally occur in remote areas during the summer, 13 regions are facing closures this year.

For example, the Chateauguay and Salberi-de-Valleyfield Hospitals, in Monterrey, sometimes transport women to Montreal for childbirth. In Laval, up to five operating rooms out of 11 will be closed.

“It’s been an exceptional year,” notes Cindy Susi, president of the Federation of Healthcare Professionals (FIQ) in Bas Saint Laurent. Of course, there are consequences for residents who have to travel farther to receive care. “

A nurse shortage is at the heart of lockdowns that range from a few days to several months. In addition, 2,000 hospital beds were closed this summer, due to the pandemic or to allow staff to take their leave. The result: many services simply can no longer be provided.

“It is clear that the situation is worse this summer,” notes Jean-Sebastien Blais, president of the Nurses’ Guild (FIQ) in Abitibe-Tmiscaming. Compulsory overtime (OST) has never been higher. “

Plus, many services are hanging by a thread, even in Montreal, according to several employees.

“It is correct because it is TSO over TSO. Otherwise, there are no more services. […] It has become disastrous, says Françoise Ramel, president of the Federation of Healthcare Professionals (FIQ), Center Sud de Lille de Montreal.

In the emergency room of Juliet Hospital, the nurses’ union regrets that the quota [de personnel] It has been revised downwards.

We should close, it will be safer. We want to provide services, but at what risk? When the emergency operates with eight staff fewer, it no longer makes sense, says Patrice Morneau, union agent for FIQ-Lanaudière.

Management responds that “when there is a staff shortage, we evaluate ratios according to the severity of patient care in order to ensure safe care,” company spokeswoman Pascal Lamy writes.

Moreover, Paul Brunet fears tragedies.

Across Quebec, care is being abandoned. We are going to lose people, that’s clear. “

The Social Security Support System is ensuring that services are closely monitored this summer “given the fragile situation in several regions”. When a service breakdown is inevitable, a contingency plan should be sent to the MSSS to minimize the impacts.

The magazine reported dips or outages in services at the Quebec Health Network this summer. Some closings are custom, and may vary depending on available staff. Other commas can also be added to this list, as some organizations did not have a complete list at the time of publication.

• 6 operating rooms were closed in Maisonneuve-Rosemont
• 1 closed operating room in Santa Cabrini
• Two operating theaters in LaSalle were closed (July 19-30)

Valleyfield and Chateauguay Hospitals

• Operating rooms 50% open
• Planned deliveries have moved to Montreal
• Children requiring hospitalization are transferred to Children’s Hospital Montreal
• CLSC Richelieu in Beloeil: open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (instead of 8 p.m.)
• Haut-Richelieu Hospital: Reduction in imaging tests

• Closure of 3 to 5 operating rooms from 11 to 29 August in Cité-de-la-Santé
• Closure of two endoscopy rooms from 7 to 8 August

IUniversity of Quebec Institute of Cardiology and Pulmonology

• Closed hemodynamic chamber out of 4
• 2 closed operating rooms out of 8

• Coaticook Emergency Hospital is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (July 14 to August 16)
• Closure of the Specialist Medical Unit at Floremont Hospital (Sherbrooke)

Gatineau Hospital

• The emergency is open to all between 8am and 6pm and reserved at night (pregnant women, children and mental health emergencies)
• Outpatient clinics and laparoscopic clinics are 50% open.

Halle Hospital

• Outpatient clinics, laparoscopic and orthopedic clinics open at 50%

• Rivière-Rouge: no intensive care (2 closed beds)
• Lashot Hospital: closed operating room (one room)
• Saint Jerome: 3 out of 9 operating rooms (until September)
• Saint-Eustache: 4 out of 10 beds are closed in intensive care
• Saint-Eustache: 3 out of 7 operating rooms (until August 9th)

• 12 out of 27 operating rooms closed (across the region)

Phil Marie

• Obstetrics department closed (April 29 to August 1)
• Close the operating room and intensive care several times during the summer
• Reducing the number of beds in the multiclient unit and in mental health at La Sarri Hospital
• Home care discounts everywhere until September 12
• Operating rooms are partially open at Amos, Rouen-Noranda and Val d’Or Hospitals

• Intensive care closed in Matane (5 July – 7 September)
• The state of emergency in Mont Joli closes at 4 pm instead of 8 pm on weekends (July 3 to August 29)

• Obstetrics closed every weekend in Dolbeau-Mistassini (since November 2020)

• No nurse calls home support in September
• No routine healthcare at CLSC de Sacré-Cœur (July 19-22)

• Shibogamao: There is no birth from July 20 to 27