The network is “ready to face the heat waves of the summer of 2022”, say the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) and the office of Minister Marguerite Blais, while voices demand that each room of the centers of long-term care accommodation (CHSLD) is air-conditioned and threatens the managers with legal action if the situation justifies it.
Earlier this week, the Quebec Association of Retirees from the Public and Parapublic Sectors (AQRP) criticized the fact that many rooms are still not air-conditioned and recalled that heat waves can cause health problems for the elderly.
The MSSS replies that the budget envelopes granted between 2021 and 2023 for minor renovations – including air conditioning – in its network total more than a billion dollars, of which at least 340 million are intended for CHSLDs. Public establishments have spent $36 million in recent years for minor functional renovations and to improve facilities to cope with heat waves, adds the office of the minister responsible for seniors and caregivers.
Marguerite Blais filed a plan in 2020 to air-condition CHSLDs and “has significantly increased budgets, resulting in more air-conditioned refuge areas and more air-conditioned rooms,” her office said by email.
The MSSS insists that any CHSLD resident can request the free installation of an air conditioner. However, some establishments report that the electrical network does not always allow it, or that residents simply do not want it.
“Porridge for the Cats”
“Porridge for cats,” replies Paul Brunet, president and CEO of the Council for the Protection of the Sick (CPM).
“When it’s cold in winter, do you have to go and ask to have heating installed? he throws. It doesn’t hold up. He accuses managers of still not having applied the “although clear” directives from Quebec and of not acting despite the allocated budgets. He promises to watch them very closely, even to “prosecute them personally” if the situation justifies it.
Rooms that are too hot are abuse, says Paul Brunet. He points out that a law adopted last April at the instigation of Marguerite Blais provides that a person who mistreats or who tolerates mistreatment of elders is liable to criminal penalties and high fines.
“We are of the opinion that neglecting, omitting or refusing to go to see a resident to provide them with the air conditioning or ventilation they need is not acceptable. You have to get out of the office and go ask them”, the elders, launches Paul Brunet.
“We have one more tool with the law. From now on, we will accumulate evidence on the oppressive heat with the degrees of heat in question in the room for a few days, and with witnesses. To the proof will be added the requests for air conditioning or ventilation, he adds. We will tell users to call the police. Before, there was no violation. Now there is one. »
For its part, the MSSS indicates that “the priority is the comfort of the resident” and that “the network is ready to face the heat waves of the summer of 2022”. “Several means can be taken to ensure comfort,” writes Marie-Claude Lacasse, media relations coordinator. This includes air-conditioning bedrooms with a central system or window air conditioner, as well as air-conditioning common areas, such as hallways, “resulting in an acceptable temperature inside the room”.
All of the CISSSs and CIUSSSs have set up “air-conditioned refuge areas” in all of their CHSLDs, without exception, we add.