While it is theoretically possible for each resident of long-term care accommodation centers (CHSLDs) who requests it to have an air conditioner in their room, there are still many who do not have one.
Nearly half of the rooms in CHSLDs are not air-conditioned by the establishments, according to a partial compilation carried out by the Association québécoise des retirés(e)s des secteur public et parapublic (AQRP) based on data from 18 integrated health centers and social services, obtained through access to information requests. The results do not include responses from all establishments, including CIUSSSs on the Island of Montreal and Montérégie.
“When there are heat waves, it causes health problems for the elderly. Respiratory or cardiovascular diseases are amplified, launches the president of the AQRP, Paul-René Roy. We would like all the rooms to be air-conditioned. The 2019 and 2020 heat waves killed 17 and 21 people respectively, he notes.
However, it notes an increase in the number of air-conditioned rooms compared to last year.
Not all residents wish to have an air conditioner, for their part explained establishments to the To have to. “All the residents, without exception, who asked for an air conditioner got it. Anyone who requests one has one, says Christian Merciari, spokesperson for the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. We even have extra air conditioners waiting to be used. »
To choose, users actually prefer fans, adds Mélanie Otis, media relations coordinator for the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. It specifies that at least 35% of resident rooms in CHSLDs are air-conditioned by the building’s central system or individual air conditioners.
“It is possible that some people have an easier time withstanding the heat, but I do not think it is the vast majority”, replies Paul-René Roy, who strongly doubts that all those who wish to have access to an air conditioner in their room.
In Gaspésie, where 3 of the 409 rooms are air-conditioned by the establishment, the CISSS emphasizes that it has adopted “an approach to air conditioning CHSLDs through common areas and corridors”. “In our opinion, in our facilities, this is the best approach to ensure the comfort of all residents. This is how we air-condition the CHSLDs, so it is normal that the figures that directly affect the rooms are lower, ”says its spokesperson, Lou Landry.
He adds that portable air conditioners “are also available at all times” for residents who want one in their room.
“The CHSLDs have at least one air-conditioned common room,” acknowledges the president of the AQRP. However, he doubts that this is sufficient for the comfort of the residents. “During the night it is very hot in the bedroom, which is further away. And it’s hard to move around in the common area during the day for people who have difficulties [de mobilité] “, he underlines.
Unsuitable buildings
As for the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec, the reality is quite different: 99.5% of the rooms are air-conditioned. “We set up an action plan in 2018 to implement air conditioning in CHSLDs,” said Guillaume Cliche, information officer at the CIUSSS.
“We have maintained the 2018 plan. We have determined the places with a significant thermal load to intervene. And as soon as there were renovations, we integrated air conditioning,” he says.
The CISSS of Chaudière-Appalaches indicates that 60% of the rooms are air-conditioned and that those which are not “are either dehumidified or indirectly cooled by the addition of air conditioning in the common areas”.
“Some establishments have chosen to put temporary air conditioners in all the rooms, whereas at home, several million have been invested in recent months to make the air conditioning permanent,” says the organization’s publicist, Mireille Gaudreau.
The CISSSs and CIUSSSs receive amounts of money from Quebec to carry out minor renovations, including improving the air conditioning.
All establishments contacted by The duty ensure that each user who requests it can have an air conditioner installed in their room free of charge. But sometimes this is not possible. “There are still a few CHSLDs where it is not possible to install an individual air conditioner due to the architecture of the building or the electrical network,” said the spokesperson for the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale.
At the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, where it is indicated that 41% of the rooms are air-conditioned, they say they are working to “increase the electrical capacity of some of our CHSLDs in order to be able to allow individual air conditioning units in the bedrooms”. It is added that all the corridors are air-conditioned.