MONTREAL — During a press briefing organized at an Info-Santé call center in downtown Montreal, Minister Christian Dubé announced the appointment of an “access coordinator” on Monday. Their mission is to facilitate access to primary care but also to reduce waiting times for surgical procedures.

It was the former president and CEO of the Integrated University Center for Health and Social Services of the Capitale-Nationale, Michel Delamarre, who agreed to take on this challenge. He is also in familiar territory, having led the team responsible for touring healthcare facilities and writing a report on the performance of the Front Line Access Window (GAP).

One of its first tasks is to implement the recommendations of this report. Five priority actions were identified. There is talk of extending the CAP’s opening hours; set up a telephone callback system to avoid waiting at the end of the line; being able to address multiple health issues at once during a doctor’s appointment; to include more professionals to whom patients can be referred; and accelerate the development of the digital version of the CAP.

The new specialist areas that we would like to include in the range of services include dentists, opticians and physiotherapists. Professionals who work primarily in private practices and for whom patients may have to pay fees.

In a few words, Mr. Delamarre summarized his mandate by sharing “his obsession” which is to find “the right service, the right professional, in the right place every time”. He adds that every time this perfect recipe doesn’t come true, an explanation must be found.

For his part, Minister Dubé said he was “overly concerned” about the speed of patient care. He therefore wants us to attack both the first and third and fourth lines by speeding up the discharge of patients from hospitals to allow them follow-up care at home.

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