Québec solidaire is asking the Legault government to stop granting new specialized medical center (CMS) permits to private clinics that want to perform surgeries on behalf of the public health network. The party believes that we must put an end to the expansion of CMS which, according to it, “drain public resources” and generate “higher costs for the State”.
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, is banking in particular on the CMS to catch up on surgeries. A solution that does not work, according to Québec solidaire.
“When the CAQ embarked on the expansion of private healthcare, they told us: “we are going to reduce the waiting lists, then we are going to improve access to care for people”. This promise was broken,” said the spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, who held a press briefing Wednesday in Montreal with MP Vincent Marissal, responsible for health.
As of February 24, 12,221 patients were waiting for surgery for more than a year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Quebec had set itself a target of 7,600 people by March 31, 2024. “Mr. Dubé [et] Mr. Legault has an ideological bias in favor of the private sector, says Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. This prejudice is so strong that it blinds them to the objective results of their strategy. »
Québec solidaire, which opposes the development of private health, believes that the government must stop issuing CMS permits in order to curb the exodus of health professionals from the public to the private sector. Health establishments and CMS draw their workforce from the same pool of professionals.
“At the moment, far from closing the wound, we are fueling the bleeding by giving ever more permits to open more and more private clinics [CMS] », thinks Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “The first step to solving the problem is to stop making it worse. »
According to Vincent Marissal, Christian Dubé gives a contradictory speech. “He wants to be an employer of choice, then in the meantime, they hand out permits to the private sector,” he denounces.
Quebec defends the contribution of CMS
Since the Coalition Avenir Québec came to power in 2018, the Ministry of Health has issued 36 new CMS permits. According to the office of Minister Christian Dubé, these medical centers contribute to catching up with surgeries. “How can Québec solidaire be against a free operation for a patient waiting for surgery? Thanks to the government’s collaboration with these clinics, 200,000 more Quebecers have been operated on more quickly since the pandemic,” we say in a written statement.
The cabinet specifies that the private sector “must be complementary to the public network, while respecting universality and free care”. “When we send patients from the public to the private sector, it is the patients who win because they obtain their care, without having to pay, while we rebuild the network,” it says.
Nearly two weeks ago, Québec solidaire demanded that the Minister of Health cap the fees charged by private clinics to patients to prevent them from being “ripped off” when they seek treatment.
With the current problems of access to medical care, Quebecers are “being had,” according to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. “They pay taxes and they still have to pay hundreds of dollars for operations, treatments, consultations that should be covered by the public. Right now, everyone is a loser. Quebec is losing. »
Further details will follow.