Closure of the Saint-Henri medical center | “It’s going to leave a huge hole in the community”

After losing half of its family doctors due to retirement or to the private sector, the Saint-Henri medical center will close its doors at the end of March, leaving up to thousands of patients orphaned.

“When the medical center closes, 3,200 patients will possibly find themselves orphans,” says the D^D Élisabeth Marois-Pagé, one of the clinic’s three family doctors.

In recent years, four general practitioners, six specialists and one specialist nurse practitioner have left the clinic, either for retirement or for the private sector. The medical team has never been able to fill these departures.

“I was the last doctor to arrive at the clinic four and a half years ago and we have not been able to recruit since,” says the D^D Marois-Pagé. The medical team is now no longer able to pay their living expenses, such as rent, and is therefore forced to close the clinic.

Patients left to their own devices

“For the past week, I have been telling my patients that the clinic is going to close, then I have dealt with tears, anxiety and lots of questions. It is very unsafe for patients. I would like to tell them that everything is going to be okay, but unfortunately, I can’t. I can’t reassure them,” says the D^D Marois-Pagé.

The doctor must find a new clinic herself, which may be in another neighborhood. “Patients who have difficulty traveling will probably have to find another family doctor. It will leave a huge hole in the community of Saint-Henri,” she laments.

With the closure of the medical center, the GMF chemin de station Saint-Henri, which includes the CLSC de Saint-Henri, will go from an accreditation level 3 to 1, says the D^D Marois-Pagé. “This means that patients who will stay in the CLSC will have less nursing time, will no longer have a nutritionist and will probably no longer have social work time either. In turn, this closure has an impact on the population and the territory on a much larger scale. »

Trying to save the clinic, in vain

In an attempt to save the clinic, the three remaining family doctors decided to increase their office fees. “It’s from our portfolio. We wanted to try to stop the bleeding,” said the D^D Marois-Pagé.

The doctors also contacted the Association of General Practitioners of Quebec (AMOQ) and the Regional Department of General Medicine of Montreal, but did not find a promising solution. At the end of September, they wrote a letter to the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to find solutions to ensure the sustainability of the clinic for years to come, but never heard back, says the D^D Marois-Pagé.

“It would be a huge loss for the people of Saint-Henri. Thousands of patients would lose their local clinic. The CLSC opposite could also lose its status, so this is catastrophic news for access to health care in the constituency,” laments the supportive MP for the constituency of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. National Assembly of Quebec, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.

The MSSS says it is aware of the impacts

Called to react, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) indicated that the closure of a clinic is “never good news” and said it was “very aware of the impacts of this closure on patients”.

“However, it is likely that the doctors at the St-Henri Medical Center will join a new clinic following the closure and thus retain their patients,” declared MSSS spokesperson Francis Martel. Patients left without a family doctor following the closure are invited to register on the waiting list of the Family Doctor Access Counter.

In response to the request for The Press To know what measures will be taken to avoid this closure, Mr. Martel declared that “service reorganization measures will be put in place to direct patients to other services.”