Last week, the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) announced the end of ambulances and a partial closure of emergencies. Intensive care has not been offered there since 2020.
The management is now considering two scenarios for the future of the facility, says Gilda Salomone, spokeswoman for the company MUHCin an email to Radio Canada.
The first scenario would be to maintain the hospital’s corporate appeal. In the second scenario considered, a stronger focus would be placed on the development of clinics for the follow-up of chronic diseases and on clinically more stable hospital patients.
A career change was anything but unanimous. Transforming a hospital into an outpatient center… Yes, there are benefits, it will ultimately benefit, but I don’t think it corresponds to what [dont] people need
explains Dr. Daniel Laliberté, who worked there for 25 years.
It contradicts a bit the terms under which McGill incorporated Lachine Hospital as a community hospital.
The tension grows
Paul Saba, former president of the Council of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists at Lachine Hospital, fears the consequences of the changes envisaged by the establishment, while emergencies in Montreal are already overwhelming everywhere. If we close the emergency room for ambulances, we will have an increase in deaths
he complains.
The atmosphere is tense for the staff, emphasizes Jade Cuerrier-Loiselle, who has worked as a nurse there for 15 years.
” Everyone is stressed. It’s not easy to live. »
Normally, five to six complex operations are performed there weekly, including urological reconstructions. However, only one-day surgeries are currently being performed.
It changes the possible operations, notes Jade Cuerrier-Loiselle. Because a very sick person needs to spend the night in the hospital and have a doctor present.
A consultation process has been carried out with the staff and representatives of the population, the spokeswoman Gilda Salomone assures.
Our goal is to find a viable and lasting solution for Lachine Hospital, she says. The feasibility study of these two scenarios is therefore essential. We hope for a result towards the end of April.
Based on a report by Camille Feireisen
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