The departure of three technologists specializing in radiation oncology has prompted the CISSS de l’Outaouais to reduce its activities at the Gatineau cancer centre.
Posted at 3:09 p.m.
Patients from Abitibi-Témiscamingue who were previously treated in Gatineau will now be referred to the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) in Montreal. “Depending on the volume of Outaouais patients requiring radiation oncology treatment, some of these patients may need to be transferred,” the CISSS de l’Outaouais said in a press release. The director general of the CISSS de l’Outaouais, Josée Fillion, speaks of approximately five patients per week from Abitibi-Témiscamingue who will be affected by this change, which will be applied for an indefinite period.
Patients from Abitibi-Témiscamingue already receiving treatment in Outaouais will continue to be treated there. But new patients will have to go to Montreal.
“Rest assured that we will put all the necessary actions in place to resume our usual volume of radiotherapy treatments as soon as possible”, indicates the CISSS, which says it is “hard at work to recruit new technologists”.
The technologists who left the CISSS decided to work in Ontario, explains Mr.me Fillion at a press conference. “The wage gap is still significant,” says Mme Fillion who talks about a $15 per hour pay gap.
Number of patients treated each year in radiation oncology in Outaouais: 1,230
Patients from Abitibi-Témiscamingue: 200