The first specialized nurse practitioner (SNP) clinic intended to relieve congestion in Montreal’s emergency rooms will open its doors by the 1er december. It will be located at the CLSC Olivier-Guimond, near the Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Santa Cabrini hospitals. The CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal will call on SNPs from family medicine groups (GMF) to work there, until the permanent positions are filled.
“Our goal is to open [la clinique] seven days a week, says the deputy CEO of the CIUSSS, Jonathan Brière, who granted an interview to the To have to. But it’s really going to depend on our recruitment and how we’re going to build the clinic, too. »
The approximately 40 front-line IPS of the CIUSSS were asked to practice within the clinic on “a voluntary basis”, he assures. The management of the establishment wants them to work there as a duo and team up with a nursing assistant and an administrative officer.
“Currently, we still have NPs who are ready to give extra shifts, who are willing to come and work at this clinic because for them, it’s very motivating. [et ça leur permet de] really play their role as nurse practitioners on the front line,” says Mr. Brière.
The project could also attract, according to him, IPS “who sometimes work hours [supplémentaires] in the private sector or in other sectors”. “They would be ready to come and give hours at the clinic,” he says.
The health establishment says it is “confident” about the opening of the clinic in early December, “minimum from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.” five days a week – “maybe until 8 p.m.”, specifies Jonathan Brière . “Are we going to be able to go to seven days? I think it might take a while. We will have to run the clinic a bit to see after that how we are able to extend our hours, to go to the weekend, and how we develop this clinic. »
The IPS clinic, which will be able to benefit from the CLSC Olivier-Guimond sampling service, will be responsible for receiving non-emergency cases redirected by hospital emergencies (P-4s and P-5s, in jargon). , as well as orphan patients referred by the first-line access point or Info-Santé 811.
Union support
The Union of Care Professionals of the East-of-the-Island of Montreal supports the project and ensures to put “the foot on the accelerator” so that the positions of IPS of the clinic are posted quickly. “It’s a project that excites everyone,” says its president, Denis Cloutier. For an IPS, it’s a bit like the pinnacle of her professional autonomy. »
According to him, this new clinic will allow the CIUSSS to attract new IPSs to its ranks.
Mr. Cloutier is not indignant that the CIUSSS has recourse to front-line IPSs in overtime until the positions are filled. “IPS in GMF [au CIUSSS] are already all working full time, he says. Where we have a margin of maneuver, while waiting to have recruited enough IPS on stable positions, it is by overtime. »
The head of the regional department of general medicine in Montreal, Dr.D Ariane Murray is delighted that front-line IPSs have not been reassigned by the CIUSSS to the new clinic to the detriment of FMGs. “For the moment, I am nevertheless reassured to feel and to see that we are going to respect the deal not to take out the IPS in the front line, she says. It wouldn’t have been an added value. She believes that we must “give the chance” to this type of project “to move forward”.
Two more clinics to come
The CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal also plans to open an SPI clinic at the Verdun CLSC at the end of November. He plans to set up a second this winter, this one at Notre-Dame Hospital. The health facility was unable to provide further information at this time.
These IPS clinics are one of the three measures announced ten days ago by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, which aim to unclog emergency rooms in the greater Montreal area.
A crisis cell formed by Quebec and bringing together some twenty members, including doctors and nurses, holds two meetings a week to find solutions to the critical emergency situation. Recommendations are made to Minister Dubé.
The stretcher occupancy rate stood at 129% Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Montreal emergency rooms, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Services. It was 201% in Lanaudière, 145% in the Laurentians, 141% in Montérégie and 124% in Laval.