Front-line access counters (GAP) for Quebecers without a family doctor will cost nearly $37.7 million this year. This is the “annual amount” granted to CIUSSSs and CISSSs for this initiative, indicated to the To have to the Department of Health and Social Services.
The GAPs are intended to ensure that the approximately 990,000 Quebecers registered with the family doctor access window (GAMF) can obtain a consultation with a health professional (nurse, pharmacist, doctor) when they need. The government hopes, with their help, to unclog hospital emergency rooms.
The department says it first distributed $35 million between the CIUSSS and the CISSS based on the number of people waiting at the GAMF in their respective territories. “Then, an additional amount of $2.6 million was granted to four regions that demonstrated an increased financial need,” said spokesperson Marjorie Larouche.
Intervene upstream
The CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal is one of those who received more money. At the end of February, there were 29,498 patients registered with the GAMF; Quebec allocated him $2,011,019. The amount is intended for its GAP, in operation since January, but also for a program of “transitional services” offered to orphan patients.
The GAP central, open seven days a week, has so far received “20,000 calls which have resulted in approximately 10,000 appointments with doctors”, according to Christine Touchette, director of integrated front-line services at this CIUSSS. At the same time, the healthcare facility contacts people registered with the GAMF to inquire about their state of health. “We have a team of nurses and specialized nurse practitioners who see users with certain problems,” says Christine Touchette. They screen them for high blood pressure and diabetes, for example. »
The CISSS des Îles-de-la-Madeleine also received increased funding. At the end of February, there were 1,219 patients waiting for a family doctor at the GAMF. Two doctors will be retiring soon, but the region is to welcome five next fall. “We didn’t know, on the Islands, if there were going to be a lot of people [ou] not many people [au GAP]explains the director of professional and hospital services at the CISSS, Dr.r Serge Gravel. We said to ourselves at that time: we will try to line up on two days of nursing and the equivalent of two days of secretarial work. »
The amount initially allocated by the Ministry of Health was insufficient to hire two employees; the CISSS finally obtained $89,260. “The nurse, probably [qu’elle va travailler] four mornings instead of two full days and nothing after that,” says the Dr Gravel. Orphan patients will therefore be able to use the GAP four days a week. The counter must begin its running-in in June to be fully functional in September.
Vulnerable clientele
Quebec has also granted an additional amount to the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent, where the GAP pilot project is taking place until November, as well as to the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. The health organization listed 44,115 registered with the GAMF at the end of February; he received $2,417,842 from the ministry.
Its acting assistant director of general services and territorial public health, Nadine Bergeron, explains that the rent of the GAP will increase because it is located in the city center of the metropolis. Her clientele is also “more vulnerable,” she says, and employees will have to be hired. “We mustn’t forget all the telephone and computer systems that need to talk to each other,” adds Nadine Bergeron. There are costs associated with that. »