Montreal patients suffering from a non-urgent problem will have an alternative to the emergency Saturday evening and Sunday night. The Mieux-Être Medical Center, a GMF-R located in the Saint-Léonard borough in Montreal, will open its doors from 8 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, for almost 24 hours. Management, which has expressed interest in the mini-hospital project, wants to measure traffic at night.
The Saint-Léonard Wellness Medical Center is usually open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will exceptionally extend its opening hours this weekend. For the GMF-R, this is a test. “What type of clientele are we going to receive? Will we need security, certain types of equipment? Will we have more alcoholic and intoxicated patients? Are parents really going to come with their children to the clinic at 2 a.m.? “, says Rémi Boulila, president and general manager of the Mieux-Être clinic network.
Three doctors, two nurses and a radiologist will be present on site to receive patients. The team can, for example, place a cast following an X-ray, drain an abscess and perform stitches or an ear wash, indicates Rémi Boulila. “A hundred beaches will be open on the Rendez-vous santé Québec site,” he specifies. Emergency departments will also be able to redirect patients to the GMF-R. “Adjacent hospitals are aware of our efforts. »
Rémi Boulila believes in the Legault government’s mini-hospitals project. He participated in two calls of interest from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) concerning the one in eastern Montreal. According to him, a mini-hospital could act as a “buffer” to help overflowing emergency rooms. Friday afternoon, the stretcher occupancy rate in Montreal was 154% on average, according to the IndexSanté website. It stood at 242% at the Royal Victoria Hospital and 213% at the Jewish General Hospital.
The Mieux-Être Medical Center plans to open in the evening and at night two more times in 2024, in order to collect data on cases and crowds.
The MSSS has not yet published calls for tenders for the creation of mini-hospitals.
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