Care and services in French at the MUHC | A right that should not be restricted

This is not the first time that users have complained of difficulties obtaining services in French at the MUHC. It made headlines more than once.

Pierre Hurteau

Vice-president of the Council for the protection of the sick

Recently, various media reported the absurd odyssey of a French-speaking woman, victim of a sexual assault, taken to the Montreal General Hospital, a facility of the McGill University Center, for medical examinations.^⁠1. From there, according to what is reported, she was directed and taken to the CHUM, to finally land at Notre-Dame Hospital. The MUHC would have informed her that it does not provide service in French to victims of sexual assault, who must present themselves elsewhere. Also according to what is told by the media, she would have been informed that the emergency medical services of the Montreal General Hospital in the event of sexual assault are only offered in English on evenings and weekends.

I fully sympathize with this user who not only suffered the trauma of this aggression, but who also had to face an administrative maze that had nothing to appease her torment.

An investigation will be opened by the Office de la langue française to shed light on this case and issue recommendations.

Every citizen of Quebec has the right to obtain health services in French in an establishment of the health network. Certain establishments, under the law, are designated in given territories to offer services to the English-speaking population, who are also entitled to services in their language. So, someone will have to explain to me whether certain types of health services can escape this rule, which is well established by the Charter of the French language and by the Act respecting health services and social services.

All things considered, psychosocial services are offered daily to a Francophone clientele in establishments designated to serve the Anglophone population. The right to be heard and understood in the health network is a right that should not be restricted with regard to French. I would find it hard to imagine that administrative agreements could ignore this fundamental principle.