The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, promises that his bill on the efficiency of the health network, which should notably give birth to the Health Quebec agency, will shake the system to its very foundations.
At the end of his speech in front of a Pierre-Péladeau auditorium filled to capacity, at the Center hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), the Minister made a point of warning his audience filled with major players in the health network.
“I tell you there, in two weeks, the columns of the temple will … I was looking for a better word, but it will shake”, he launched.
” For what ? Because everyone should contribute. We are going to ask a lot, but from everyone, ”explained the minister, naming the unions, doctors and managers.
He also made no secret that he expects to experience “more difficult times” after the tabling of this new bill.
Christian Dubé was the guest on Monday of a forum organized jointly by the CHUM, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal and the Quartier de l’innovation en santé de Montréal. This event under the theme “Innovation: a source of societal and economic value” aims to highlight the innovative capacities of private companies for the benefit of healthcare.
Throughout his speech, the Minister insisted on the need to innovate not only in terms of technologies, but especially of processes. How to do things in the immensity of the health network.
Remember that the proposed Health Quebec agency, which would be responsible for coordinating the operations of the health network, is an election promise made by the Coalition avenir Québec. This new structure would have the mandate to supervise the operations of the CISSSs and CIUSSSs, while the ministry would retain its role of formulating orientations in the area of health and social services.
When announcing this promise, the CAQ maintained that the ministry “should not be responsible for both the planning and the day-to-day operation of the network”.
“Improve” collective agreements
In order to carry out all the changes he wishes to implement, the minister has also reached out to the unions. Referring to the current negotiations on collective agreements in the public sector, Mr. Dubé invited the central unions to dare to do things differently.
“We need to have collective agreements that are more up to date,” he said of the employment contracts for nurses and orderlies. I don’t blame anyone, I think it’s everyone’s fault, but we have incredibly rigid collective agreements. »
In the eyes of the Minister of Health, as long as the collective agreements do not reflect the current reality requiring a better balance between work and personal life, the staff will continue to turn their backs on the public network.
“Now that we are designing this, I would like to have the cooperation of all the unions”, he pleaded, relying on the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, to “improve” the collective agreements. .
The other fundamental element missing from Christian Dubé’s strategy to transform the health network remains the digital transition. Faced with the chaos that the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) is currently experiencing, he wants to reassure the population.
According to him, we learn from our mistakes and these failures will allow the government to correct missteps to ensure better health deployment. The Minister would also like to take the opportunity to recover the digital identities created by Quebecers at the SAAQ to use in their health records.
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