Unable to reach a compromise with the nurses on the evening shift at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (HMR), the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal resolves to ask the population to avoid emergencies for the night. The situation is “untenable”, says the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé.
While about 100 ER nurses threaten to quit on Wednesday if the head of their unit isn’t replaced, night shift workers objected to the contingency plan presented to them when they arrived at work on Monday evening.
According to them, the plan proposed by the management, which forces them to work in small teams, would involve risks for the health of the patients. After several hours of negotiations, the senior management of the establishment asks the population to avoid going to the emergency room from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
In a press release, the management evokes “an exceptional situation” and thanks the population for “its collaboration”. The situation must be reviewed on Tuesday morning.
Patients currently in the emergency room and unstable patients arriving by ambulance will remain admitted to ensure safety. Outpatients will not be able to be taken care of tonight. The other ambulances will be redirected during the closing period to other establishments in the Greater Montreal area.
The CIUSSS reminds that people can turn to their family doctor, a pharmacist or a doctor in a walk-in clinic. The 8-1-1 line is still in place.
Minister Christian Dubé spoke with the president and CEO of the establishment, Jean-François Verreault-Fortin, in the evening. “The emergency situation at HMR is currently untenable, I am aware of that,” he wrote on Twitter late Monday.
“Our priority is to ensure the safety of all patients. That’s why we made the difficult decision to limit activities to the emergency room for this night. We will take stock [lundi] “, he added.
The problem with the emergency room at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont is that it will never close because of its geographical position and the size of the hospital, explains Denis Cloutier, president of the Syndicat des professionnelles in care in the East-of-the-Island of Montreal. “So there is a management which proposes to remain open, while always removing more staff”, he denounces.
The reductions in services proposed Monday evening by the CIUSSS, “are almost daily solutions, says Mr. Cloutier. For [les infirmières], there is nothing new in that. What they need is more manpower. »
The health of patients at risk
“It’s ridiculous what’s going on here,” says Annie Fournier, a nurse at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont for a dozen years. Like his colleagues on the Monday evening shift, Mme Fournier refuses to work because of the conditions currently prevailing in the emergency room of the hospital.
On Monday evening, due to the labor shortage, seven employees on the day shift were initially scheduled to stay into the evening doing compulsory overtime work (TSO), explains Ms.me Fournier.
“At the last minute [les gestionnaires] canceled that, to have zero TSO. And they asked us to return with a patient load which is impossible, denounces Mme Fournier. They ask us to be a nurse and two auxiliary nurses, for about 50 patients. »
A situation that endangers the safety of emergency users, she says. “We are asked to ensure the safety of all these patients, it is unacceptable, continues Mme Fournier. Our responsibility as nurses is very great. »
Sunday, The Press reported that a hundred emergency nurses at this hospital were threatening to quit their job if the head of unit did not lose her post. Earlier last week, the union also claimed that a “sad record” of compulsory overtime had been broken in the emergency room.
For Anne Lecers, nursing assistant who has just started her career in the industry, this situation is worrying. “I don’t want to become a person who suffers in the end because the working conditions are very difficult,” she reacts.
As of late Monday evening, the nurses on the evening shift are still refusing to work. Those on the day provide care during the evening, while there are too few nurses scheduled to cover all the night shifts, specifies Mr. Cloutier. According to him, “it could be very problematic [à la fin du quart de soir]at midnight “.
Too many patients for ER capacity
The CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal affirms that the average number of hours worked since mid-December by a nurse assigned to emergencies is 34.25 hours per week.
The demand placed on Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, in terms of care for the population, particularly in the emergency room, greatly exceeds the capacity of the care offered by the establishment and the technical platforms available”, said know the spokesman, Christian Merciari.
The emergency department receives daily up to 25% more patients than its capacity to accommodate. In addition, we have to serve up to 27% of the population while we only have 17% of short-term beds available,” he added in a statement.
The establishment reiterates that everything is done to avoid having to resort to the TSO.
Passing through Everybody talks about it On Sunday, Health Minister Christian Dubé admitted that the emergency room at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital serves too high a volume of patients for its capacity.