The intervention of the Minister of Health to resolve the crisis in the emergency room of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital is “normal”, declared Prime Minister François Legault on Wednesday.
“The way the network is organized, it’s normal for the minister to do that,” confirmed the Prime Minister at a press briefing. “The situation is serious enough in Maisonneuve-Rosemont for the minister, in the current organizational structure, to get involved. »
The day before, emergency nurses had stopped working to protest against the work climate deemed “toxic” and compulsory overtime. Following the intervention of the Minister and the President and CEO of the local CIUSSS, a manager was replaced and a mediator was dispatched to clean up the situation.
The Prime Minister’s statement is at odds with comments made by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, a week ago.
“Have structuring effects”
” It’s the fun put out fires and deal with emergencies, but I’m not here for that,” Christian Dubé launched on January 11, when asked about the crisis in the emergency room, before adding: “I’m here to have structuring effects that will change things. »
Patience, asks François Legault to Quebecers who are dealing with this crisis. “How long will it take before filling all the nursing positions we would like to fill? A nurse is at least three years of CEGEP,” he said.
“We will try, with immigration and then with requalification, to have nurses as quickly as possible. There are acts that can be delegated to other employment bodies. It requires negotiations with the professional orders. So this work is being done, but it is clear that we will not be able, overnight, to fill all the nursing positions that are posted. »
While saying that he understood the frustration of nurses, he referred the impatient “to the health plan” of his minister. “Christian has given himself a plan so that, in the mandate, there is a large piece of fact, among other things, by 2025,” he explained.