Nearly one in four patients hospitalized in the west of Montreal no longer need care, but remain in the hospital awaiting accommodation in a CHSLD, mental health or rehabilitation facility. To relieve congestion in its hospitals, the management of the CIUSSS plans to rent external establishments to temporarily house patients, we have learned. The Press.
“The vast majority of people currently waiting are either for accommodation for the elderly or accommodation for people in mental health. Unfortunately, we lack living environments for these people,” says Isabelle Caron, director of the autonomy support program for the elderly, the housing component of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
As of September 8, 198 patients from the CIUSSS de l’Ouest no longer needed hospital care, according to the dashboard of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, which corresponds to approximately 24% of users. An upward trend has been observed since the start of the year.
Last week, due to a particularly high number of patients awaiting transfer, a meeting was planned with the Ministry of Health. “We sat down with [les gens du] Ministry, then we presented them with our possible solutions,” says M.me Because we.
Looking for additional beds
In order to relieve the pressure on hospitals in the West, health professionals from the Support for the Autonomy of Elderly People (SAPA) program were mobilized this summer to assist in the care of patients awaiting accommodation. . “It was a quick fix to help, but it’s not the real solution to the problem,” admits Mme Because we.
Beds, which had been closed during the pandemic, were also reopened. “On some sites, I reopened 20 more,” says Mme Because we. A care unit which remained vacant at the LaSalle hospital was also converted into an accommodation unit.
The CIUSSS is now evaluating the possibility of renting external establishments. The goal is to have “other accommodation spaces that would look more like living environments and less like hospital environments,” says M.me Caron, adding that he could not give more details at the moment.
The major challenge, however, is finding enough staff to manage the additional beds. “Over the last six months, we have worked hard on recruitment. We hired nearly 150 new people,” says M.me Because we.
In the medium term, the CIUSSS also has expansion projects for certain CHSLDs. “This involves new financing, agreements and renovation budgets. We are working with the Ministry on this,” said M.me Because we.
A widespread problem in Montreal
The proportion of patients no longer needing care is also high in the rest of the metropolis. Montreal as a whole currently has 913 patients in this situation, or approximately 16% of users. This is double the Legault government’s provincial target of 8%.
At the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, 30% of patients no longer require hospital care. “These people are mainly waiting for a place in long-term accommodation or even a place in mental health accommodation, but these places are occupied,” says media relations advisor Luc Fortin.
At the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, 17% of patients no longer require care, compared to 16% in the central west and 18% in the north of Montreal.