The Ministry of Health awarded a $109,000 contract to an external consultant to ensure “coordination and monitoring” of its action plan aimed at opening the 46 seniors’ homes promised by the Legault government.
Posted at the very beginning of the year, the contract was concluded by mutual agreement with a former manager of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Sophie Barsetti. It ends “according to the first term reached among the following, i.e. reaching the maximum amount provided for in the contract or December 31, 2024”, specified the ministry at Duty.
Mme Barsetti “collaborates” in particular “in the coordination and monitoring of the ministerial action plan allowing the opening of 46 [maisons des aînés et alternatives] in Quebec,” continued ministry spokesperson Marie-Pierre Blier. The duty reported last week about delivery delays in these accommodation resources, almost all of which still have empty rooms.
Asked why the ministry did not entrust this task internally, Ms.me Blier responded that “the ministry ensures that it seeks specific expertise complementary to that held by ministerial staff.” The goal ? “Complete all project deliverables and ensure knowledge transfer within the ministerial teams dedicated to the project.”
Mme Barsetti was employed by the CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale from 2021 to 2023. She was also, among other things, director of customer experience at the Champlain Group, a private corporation under agreement which offers accommodation and care services. long-term care for people losing their autonomy.
Under the terms of the contract it obtained, its mission will include “carrying out and [de] deploy a sustainability plan to ensure the continuity of the implementation of clinical concepts specific to [maisons des aînés] once the houses are in operation,” wrote Mme Blier. The contract she obtained is, according to the ministry, “a continuation” of her collaboration with her former employer, the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. Mme Barsetti will therefore be able to “take advantage of his great expertise in order to continue his involvement with the ministerial team”, underlined Mr.me Blier.
Houses full… of transferred residents
The duty also obtained details about the only two seniors’ homes — out of a total of 17 — that are operating at full capacity.
The seniors’ home in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentians, is one of two houses that are full. Currently, 41 of its 48 accommodation spaces are occupied by residents “who come from the CHSLD de Mont-Tremblant,” explained by email the communications advisor of the CISSS des Laurentides, Valérie Maynard. “The estimated date of reopening of this CHSLD is scheduled for fall 2025,” she added.
As he wrote The duty in May, several regions use seniors’ homes to accommodate residents of CHSLDs undergoing renovation, as they are unable to accommodate new residents.
The other seniors’ home that does not have empty rooms is that of Parc-de-la-Montagne, in the Hull sector of the City of Gatineau. “All residents transferred from the CHSLD Lionel-Émond to the [maison des aînés] will remain at [maison des aînés]. There is no temporary accommodation. They are all there permanently and not for a fixed period,” replied spokesperson Qérèn Boua on this subject.
As of late Thursday, she had not responded to follow-up questions submitted by The duty starting Tuesday. According to our information, the movement of residents from the CHSLD Lionel-Émond to the Parc-de-la-Montagne seniors’ home did not make it possible to free up new places in long-term accommodation. The old rooms will, after renovations, be used more for short-term accommodation for people in rehabilitation.
With Marie-Ève Cousineau