As of November 7, the emergency room at the Lachine Hospital in Montreal will be closed in the evening and at night.
Faced with the “critical” shortage of nurses and respiratory therapists, the Lachine hospital will close its emergency room between 3 p.m. and 8 a.m., 7 days a week, the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) announced on Monday after -midday. Patients will be temporarily redirected to an ambulance.
“It is completely unacceptable. If patients arrive on foot at the hospital, are there going to be ambulances to send them to the left and to the right “, exclaimed Doctor Paul Saba, president of the Council of Doctors of the Hospital. from China.
MUHC President and Associate General Manager Martine Alfonso said in a statement sent to employees that the situation is “temporary” and that they are working “intensively to correct it as soon as possible”.
“We are in a disadvantaged region. People can’t afford a taxi and they don’t all have a car, ”argued Dr Saba, adding that the hospital’s clientele is aging. ” [Cette décision] is without regard to those in need ”.
Closing the ER was the easy decision, says Dr.r Saba. “They think they’re going to save money, but that’s not true. People will take longer to get to the hospital and there will be deaths, ”he concluded.