The occupancy rate started to rise again in Quebec’s emergency rooms on Thursday after a slight drop around Christmas. It is in the regions surrounding the metropolis that the situation is most critical.
As of midday Thursday, the average occupancy rate of emergency rooms across the province is 124%, a rate considered very high, according to the Index Santé website.
In ten out of 15 regions, the rate exceeds 100%. This assessment contrasts with the days surrounding Christmas. In fact, on December 23, 24, 25 and 26, the emergency occupancy rate remained below 100%. It was 87% on December 24 and 84% on December 25.
It is in the regions of Lanaudière, Montérégie, Laurentides and Laval that the rates are the highest, followed by Montreal. In Lanaudière, the Lanaudière hospital has a rate of 200% and the Pierre-Le-Gardeur hospital, 156%.
In Montérégie, the Anna-Laberge hospital in Châteauguay has an occupancy rate of 191%. It was in this hospital that two patients died, including one in the emergency room, at the beginning of December.
The Suroît hospital, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, has an occupancy rate of 181%.
The situation is also difficult in emergency rooms in the Laurentians, particularly at the Mont-Laurier hospital which has a rate of 200%, and at the Saint-Eustache hospital (184%).
Last week, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, asked for the population’s help to relieve Quebec’s emergencies during the holiday season. He pointed out that there was a large proportion of people who consulted the emergency room without having an urgent problem.
This call followed a strong outing from Quebec’s emergency chiefs who, in mid-December, denounced an “out of control” situation in the province’s hospitals.. Minister Christian Dubé then had to defend his management of the emergency crisis.
Only two regions of Quebec, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, have an occupancy rate considered normal.
Other options for care
Last week, Mr. Dubé invited people in need of non-urgent care to use other available options during the holidays.
These include family medicine or specialist nurse practitioner clinics, and pharmacies which can provide professional advice. He recalled that the 811 telephone service allows you to speak to a nurse and, sometimes, to obtain an appointment.
The network of winter clinics, specializing in respiratory viruses and gastrointestinal problemsis also deployed throughout Quebec.
Too many Quebecers present themselves in emergency rooms without having benefited from basic care, also deplored the president of the Association of Emergency Medicine Specialists of Quebec, Dr.r Gilbert Boucher.
Faced with the sharp increase in circulation of COVID-19 and influenza viruses, the national director of public health, Dr Luc Boileau invited people to get vaccinated to slow the spread and avoid complications.
With The Canadian Press