The CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal refutes the allegations of Liberal MP Emmanuella Lambropoulos that many English-speaking citizens of Montreal could not receive treatment in a language other than French.
The elected PLC had told the story of an elder to whom the doctor refused to speak in English.
In an interview with LCN, the Deputy President and CEO of the CIUSSS, Najia Hachimi-Idrissi, assured that her organization was equipped to offer its services to the English-speaking population.
“All the people within the CIUSSS are able to express themselves in English,” she maintains.
Ms. Hachimi-Idrissi asserts that the implementation of Bill 96 has not changed anything regarding the offer of services in English to patients who do not speak French.
“We have designated status. So we have to be able to provide services in English for our population. It would be completely against our mandate to have such a directive,” she claimed.
In addition, a citizen can always lodge a complaint if he is not able to be served in English, mentions Najia Hachimi-Idrissi, specifying that she has not heard of any specific case of this type of grievance recently. .
The Deputy CEO of the CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal specifies that all of the official communication carried out by her organization is done in French and English. She adds that bilingualism is one of the main criteria for hiring staff. Training can be offered to employees who have difficulty expressing themselves in English.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.