Three municipalities, including those of Senneterre, have come together to offer a new bonus to nurses who will come to help the CLSC de Senneterre, whose emergencies have been closed since mid-October. Nurses could each receive up to $ 50,000.
The Towns of Senneterre, Senneterre-Paroisse and Belcourt, in partnership with the Economic Development Corporation (CDE) will offer a bonus of up to $ 20,000 to nurses working at the Senneterre CLSC. This incentive is in addition to the government bonuses already granted, which represent an amount of up to $ 30,000.
“The communities of the Senneterre pole need to return to their full-time open emergency room and we will do what is necessary to recruit the missing staff as quickly as possible. This is why we are going into great seduction mode, ”said the mayoress of Senneterre, Nathalie-Ann Pelchat, in a press release.
The CDE has set up a workforce attractiveness plan for nursing staff. In addition to the bonuses offered, support for the establishment in the municipality located in Abitibi-Témiscamingue will be offered to nurses.
The emergencies at the Senneterre Health Center have been closed 16 hours a day since October 18, due to staff shortages. This is a decision taken by the Integrated Center for Health and Social Services of Abitibi-Témiscamingue (CISSSAT), which sparked outrage.
In early December, a 65-year-old man died as the emergency room closed. He should have waited more than two hours before being “taken care of properly”.
“What we feared has happened”, wrote the mayoress of Senneterre, Nathalie-Ann Pelchat, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé. Mme Pelchat had pointed out, in an interview with Press, that the victim “lived a 10-15 minute walk from the Senneterre health center”.
With Fanny Lévesque, Press