OTTAWA – After 15 years of promoting access to health services in French in Eastern Ontario, Jacinthe Desaulniers announced her departure from the planning unit this Wednesday. Ms. Desaulniers joined the French Language Health Services Network of Eastern Ontario (RSSFE) in 2009 as President and CEO.

“I’m staying in the health system,” says the woman, who has more than 25 years of experience in this field.

“There have been so many changes, so many opportunities, innovations and growth in the healthcare system over the last 15 years,” she notes.

Ms. Desaulniers is also the driving force behind the development of the OZi portal within the network, which aims to support healthcare providers in improving their offering in French.

OZi collects information about the system’s ability to provide services in French and generates important analytical data for planning, decision making and performance monitoring. This portal led to the creation of a non-profit organization that operates in six provinces and territories across Canada.

Jacinthe Desaulniers in an interview with ONFRHe looked back on these years of work but believes it is time to take on a new challenge. At the moment the secret is well kept, but the person concerned promises that we will see the next stage of her career on November 28th.

For now, it’s time to take stock. “My involvement in the provincial regroupment to plan health services made my work very stimulating, I have very fond memories of it. »

In fact, Ms. Desaulniers was also the Director General of the Ontario French Health Planning Regroupment. She advised the provincial health system on all issues affecting the health of Francophones.

“After these 15 years, I express deep gratitude, even sincere appreciation, to the French-speaking community,” she expresses.

Having worked primarily in an English-speaking environment before joining the healthcare network, Ms. Desaulniers held several leadership positions in hospital centers but also served as a teacher at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa.

Soon linguistic identity on health cards

“There have been many improvements within Réseau through people’s involvement, and I am proud that our organization is predominantly community-based. »

Therefore, the organization invites the community to share their experiences with the healthcare system and, in particular, to make recommendations to the government.

“I was recently asked for a letter of support for the inclusion of language identity in the health card,” says the CEO.

“This is an initiative that the Government of Ontario has been considering for some time and now, with financial support from Health Canada, it could very well see the light of day. »

Jacinthe Desaulniers confirms that the RSSFE has been actively involved in this project for several years. “I’m really pleased that the government appears to be moving in this direction and I see no reason not to support this approach.” »

Advise the provincial government on health services in French

“We need committees that advise at the provincial level so that we have health services in French,” she believes.

Even if entities are named for a limited time, they are subject to regular model revisions. “These are just revisions. The entities are enshrined in the law, so the law would have to be changed differently. »

However, one of the changes that could be implemented quickly concerns the areas covered by the units. This situation only creates an administrative complication, but according to Ms Desaulniers it would be wise to clarify this issue as the areas would then no longer be really well marked.

Finally, the CEO believes that “companies should be able to directly advise provincial planning.”

“Provincial planning is about more than just gathering regional information. This involves an in-depth look at the problems of the entire province. »

A good example is the indication of linguistic identity on the health card. “At the regional level, we cannot effectively propose ideas to advance this project. This is an issue that affects the entire province and needs to be discussed at this level. »

Jacinthe Desaulniers will officially leave her position as President and CEO of the RSSFE at the end of November.