Christian Dubé’s second term got off to a flying start. No sooner had his appointment been confirmed than he was already faced with an “emergency crisis” which, as we will have understood, hides a crisis in the health system as a whole.
Posted yesterday at 12:00 p.m.
The backlash from the pandemic was inevitable. The network is now fully aware of the collateral damage: staff shortages, lack of screening, eternal lack of beds, long waiting lists and immune debt of children… all against a background of accelerated aging of the population. The storm is perfect.
Under the circumstances, the Minister acted rigorously and efficiently by setting up a crisis unit. Composed of a multitude of experts in the field, it issued three simple and long-known recommendations. According to the Minister, if these orientations have already been widely circulated, it is the fact of finally implementing them that will make the difference.
It goes without saying that these three ideas, however consensual they may be, will not work miracles.
Moreover, if the crisis unit had included parents, they would no doubt have expressed serious doubts as to the possibility that 811 would be enough to compensate for the lack of access to care they face with their sick children.
Admittedly, it is reassuring to note the presence of the Dr Alexander Sasha Dubrovsky, co-founder of UP clinics, within the crisis unit. Let’s hope that the model of this once life-saving clinic will be emulated and multiplied. I say formerly, because it is clearly no longer sufficient for demand. The well-kept secret has leaked out. Parents on the South Shore find themselves without local resources, and this, at a time when access to the island is becoming more complicated.
Montreal can boast of being home to two world-class children’s hospitals. However, the changing demography of the metropolitan community calls for a certain decentralization of pediatric care. Despite efforts to attract and retain families on the island, it is clear that, due to a lack of means and space, many have left the city for the wreaths. The balance sheets of interregional migration attest to this, year after year.
Result: the children are concentrated in the 450 and have only meager access to pediatric care in their respective regions. The proliferation of sites complicates the matter.
An awareness campaign recently asked users of the bridge-tunnel what their plan B was. Exactly, what is plan B for the children of the crown? Are effective transfer corridors planned for access to tertiary and quaternary care when major interventions are required?
In the short term, the construction of one pediatric unit per crown could also be considered. For example, the Pierre-Boucher and Cité-de-la-Santé hospitals could accommodate annexes dedicated to this purpose. Skeptics will argue that this is unthinkable. However, the construction, in record time, of the hemato-oncology pavilion at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital is proof that this is possible.
Beyond the bricks, the current crisis reveals a human resources crisis. It is useless to repeat the importance of opening the floodgates to train health personnel who will allow them to deal decently with prevention. That said, we struggle to cover emergencies. The question of the allocation of current resources must therefore be debated. Is it reasonable that some pediatricians still dedicate their expertise to carrying out annual follow-ups? All parents want the ultimate for their little ones. But while thousands of young people have no medical access, it seems clear that a Quebec that is truly crazy about its children would put the expertise of pediatricians to good use with more “walk-ins”.