(Quebec) As the end of the exceptional measures related to the pandemic approaches, the Legault government plans to table regulations to keep the thousands of workers employed who have come to lend a hand to the health network for vaccination and screening.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
If it does not adopt regulations, Quebec could deprive itself of thousands of health care workers who have been exceptionally hired through the “I contribute” platform, deployed as the health crisis raged to bring in reinforcements. in the network. It is that these workers, often retirees who have agreed to come back to help their colleagues, are now employees by virtue of a ministerial decree.
The few ministerial decrees still in force expire on December 31, at the same time as the An Act to end the state of health emergency while providing for the maintenance of transitional measures necessary to protect the health of the population (“Law 28”). Adopted in June, despite the discontent of the opposition parties, Law 28 gives exceptional powers to the government until the end of the year.
Law 28 also maintains hundreds of special authorizations to practice which have been granted by professional orders to allow former members or students to perform certain acts related to vaccination and screening. These two activities were also open to several other professionals, such as veterinarians and denturists, to organize mass vaccination campaigns.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
A health worker at the vaccination center at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, in December 2021
“The objective is to retain as much as possible the staff who now have experience with us”, argued the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, on the sidelines of a press conference on the situation in emergencies, two weeks ago. He then opened the door to the tabling of regulations and even “if necessary” of bills when work resumed in the National Assembly on 29 November.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) confirms that regulations will be tabled soon to solve “this problem”, stressing that the needs for labor in the network “are great”, pandemic or not. Last spring, Christian Dubé affirmed that 13,000 to 15,000 workers were employed by the MSSS thanks to “I contribute”.
Mr. Dubé also invoked the importance of having a transition law in order, precisely, to maintain the employment relationship of these workers. “By the fall, by December 31 at the latest, we will have reached an agreement with the professional orders so that these people, when the decree is completed […]can vaccinate permanently, “he explained in the parliamentary committee on the study of Bill 28.
Negotiations with orders
The MSSS is still negotiating with the professional orders the terms of a future regulation that would regulate the practice of these employees. “We are at the discussion stage,” explains the director general and secretary of the Professional Order of Inhalotherapists of Quebec, Josée Prud’homme. “There is a desire that people who vaccinate or screen can continue to do so,” she adds.
“As far as we are concerned, it is certain that if the special authorizations end on December 31 for our former members […]we can probably grant limited permits, so come and limit the exercise, but for the students, we don’t really have any leverage”, illustrates Mme Prud’homme. The path explored is to make regulatory changes so that students can stay in their jobs.
The Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ), which did not want to grant us an interview at this stage, explains for its part “to develop strategies” so that the beneficiaries of special authorization can continue to practice the profession until the next entry on the Roll, on 1er April 2023.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Long queue in front of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal screening center, in December 2021
Quebec is also seeking to keep in force the authorizations that allow several other professional bodies to vaccinate and screen, which is part of the vision of Minister Christian Dubé to decompartmentalize the professions.
Law 28 will also mark the end of the measures governing the use of labor placement agencies. On this subject, the MSSS briefly indicated that it was conducting “work in this area”, without further details. Contracts for the storage and transport of goods linked to the pandemic, concluded by mutual agreement under the health emergency, could also be renewed for a maximum period of five years with law 28.
The opposition parties had all voted against the adoption of Bill 28 because of the exceptional powers that the Legault government would retain until December 31. Quebec justified the importance of having transitional measures to organize, for example, a mass vaccination campaign in the event of an upsurge in cases of COVID-19.
Quebec ended the health emergency, which had been in effect since March 2020, on 1er June 2022.