The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, intends to ask for “accountability” from the Legault government in the case of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital, where he met with workers on Monday. The PQ is due to meet Prime Minister François Legault on Tuesday to talk about this issue in particular.
“It’s the spit that holds the hospital,” said Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in a press scrum Monday afternoon following his visit to the establishment. The situation at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital is at the top of his list of priorities to discuss during his meeting Tuesday with the Prime Minister, François Legault.
“It’s quite striking to talk to the workers. Even today, a day when the population cooperates, avoids the emergency, the number of patients is still lower than the average and we still resort to overtime. This is to tell you how badly manpower it is,” he said.
Last week, around 100 emergency nurses at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital threatened to resign, in particular because of the excessive use of compulsory overtime, “the toxic atmosphere” and “inhuman working conditions”.
On Thursday, the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Ile-de-Montréal asked for the help of volunteer health workers to come and lend a hand to the staff of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is concerned about the crisis at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital on the population of eastern Montreal. “The hospital is one of the few resource points for my citizens in Camille-Laurin. Every time the service is threatened, it is the health of my citizens that is threatened,” he said.
To remedy the situation, the Parti Québécois wants to tackle mandatory overtime and put an end to private agencies, starting with removing “the most attractive shifts” from agencies, said Mr. Plamondon.