In 1994, Lina Cyr, awaiting a liver transplant, found herself in contact with many patients in the same situation as her.
Posted at 10:00 a.m.
By dint of discussions with them and realizing that hotel stays end up being very expensive, an idea comes to him: to open a convalescent residence intended for patients living in remote regions and seeing themselves forced to go to the metropolis to great expense to receive a new lung or a new kidney.
This is how the Maison des graftés Lina Cyr was born, the first and only convalescent home for transplant recipients and their loved ones in North America.
For the past 28 years, the Maison des graftés has become the haven of just over 28,000 Quebec patients, and sometimes even patients outside Quebec. For the year 2019-2020 alone, the House welcomed 1071 patients and 956 companions!
The reality of transplants in Quebec is such that this type of surgery often takes place in Montreal. For patients living in Abitibi or Saguenay, the road to Montreal is long and the stay in the metropolis, ruinous, especially since patients also most often have pre-intervention appointments and are often accompanied by a loved one at all stages of the process.
A safe, affordable and comfortable place
It was inconceivable for Lina Cyr, from the perspective of truly integrated care, that vulnerable people could be left to their own devices, before or after one of the most important stages of their lives.
The House she founded, and which her own daughter is now in charge of, allows patients to stay not only in a safe place, their own and at an affordable cost, but also in a place that first of all facilitates the presence of a loved one so that the patient can devote all his energies to his convalescence.
Some patients residing in the Montreal region, but who themselves are not lucky enough to have a loved one available, also go through the Maison des graftés, for the simple reason that it is the only place where they have the opportunity to receive all the support necessary to regain proper health. This is the case for many one-person households in Montreal.
With the increased shift towards home care announced in the “health plan” a few weeks ago by Quebec, an establishment such as the Maison des greffés Lina Cyr, even though not officially a public health establishment, is the very example of a decentralized initiative, “coming from the field”, and responding to real needs.
Essential link
This type of initiative is proving to be an essential link in our health system, even if we do not formally offer care. By reducing the length of the hospital stay and thus reducing the pressure exerted on the health network, this type of residence near major university hospitals not only ensures a safe transition period between hospital and home, but also allows also above all to weave essential social links between people living the same reality.
We have known for a long time that the quality of social ties promotes the maintenance of good health and that it is essential to have an increasingly integrated vision of health services.
During this National Organ and Tissue Donation Week, a collective reflection is needed to ensure the maintenance and sustainability of this type of service, because they not only relieve congestion in the health network, but they also offer a safe convalescence which, if not free, is at the very least affordable for people going through the ordeal of a transplant.
Is it not the responsibility of all of us to ensure that we maintain and fund this type of decentralized initiative that is essential to the recovery and maintenance of patient autonomy? To ask the question, is to answer it.
* Co-signers: Micheline Cyr Asselingeneral manager of the Maison des graftés Lina Cyr; Annie Gendrontransplant patient and ambassador of the Maison des graftés Lina Cyr; Patrice Dionnetransplant patient and ambassador of the Maison des graftés Lina Cyr