The SABSA Foundation, which financially supports the SABSA local clinic, is made up of volunteers who essentially work to find funds to enable the clinic to operate. We do not interfere in relations between government agencies (Ministry of Health and Social Services [MSSS], CIUSSS, etc.) or municipal and the clinic. Our only objective is to raise funds, because we believe that SABSA is essential for the vulnerable clientele of the greater Capitale-Nationale region, including Charlevoix, Portneuf and Lévis, where patients continue to receive its services.
However, we felt challenged by the MSSS’s response to the article in Duty which denounces the financial precariousness of the SABSA clinic. Here is the paragraph that startled us: “At the ministry, we emphasize that SABSA is not a network service point and that its status is more similar to that of a community organization or a non-profit organization ( NPO). “It’s necessary […] understand that a large part of an NPO’s funding generally comes from philanthropy, particularly for costs related to infrastructure,” its spokesperson indicated in writing. »
We cannot compare SABSA to a community organization or an NPO. These organizations have access to two sources of funding in the region: the PSOC program (Support Program for Community Organizations) and Centraide Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches. Contrary to what the ministry suggests, the PSOC aims to provide 80% or more of the funding for eligible organizations alone, as evidenced in the Policy on Recognition and Support for Community Organizations of the Capitale-Nationale, page 47: “The consolidation of the financing of a community group within the framework of the PSOC corresponds to 80% of the operational budget base […] “.
As a solidarity cooperative that has its own foundation, SABSA cannot obtain funding from the PSOC nor obtain subsidies from Centraide. In fact, if we want to compare SABSA funding, the only comparable element accessible would be, according to the new reference framework for specialized nurse practitioner (SNP) clinics, eligible for funding of approximately $795,000 per year.
The real question that remains: why not recognize SABSA as a funded IPS clinic as such? In our opinion, because Quebec has established a model that makes room for for-profit health clinics, but which still does not find room for the non-profit cooperative model.
Let us not forget that any money that comes into SABSA only goes towards caring for the most vulnerable patients in our region. As members of the Foundation, we have often discussed the benefits of this innovative model on clinic efficiency. If workers want to remain outside the network, it is because the operation is better adapted to the realities of this type of patient, whom the health network does not reach or is incapable of serving.
So, we are asking the MSSS to correct the situation. As we have already heard, it is time to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.