There will be only one nurse on duty this Sunday in the emergency room of the Kuujjuarapik Health Center in Nunavik, which seriously compromises the services offered to the population. The situation has never been so serious for at least 10 years, according to the nurses’ union, which has been calling for the intervention of the army for weeks while Quebec promises reinforcements which do not come.
Posted at 4:51 p.m.
Updated at 6:43 p.m.
“I can’t believe that with all the letters that have been sent, the means of pressure that have been used, we are still at this point,” protests Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash, candidate for Quebec solidaire in Ungava. “At this point, it’s negligence. »
The Inuit community of Kuujjuarapik shares its health center with the Cree village of Whapmagoostui. This Sunday, only one nurse at a time will be on duty on the Inuit side, according to the contingency plan sent Friday and obtained by The Press. The nurse will do the triage over the phone and can take the vital signs of the patients if an emergency visit is necessary.
“It’s really a situation that puts everyone at risk,” said Cyril Gabreau, president of the Northern Hudson’s Bay Nurses Union. “Me, I’ve been in the North for 10 years, it’s the first time [que je vois ça]. We fall hollow. »
Neither of the two nurses who will be splitting the task into two 12-hour shifts has the expanded role training, which would allow them to provide more care in the absence of a physician.
Patient care will therefore fall to nurses on the Cree side, of whom there will be only two, according to the contingency plan. “Imagine there was an ATV accident on the Cree side […] then there is another emergency situation on the Inuit side,” illustrates Mr. Gabreau. At that time, there will be no one to care for patients in Kuujjuarapik and Whapmagoostui, where more than 1,800 people live.
This plan “isn’t perfect,” admits manager Sharon Collins, who signs the contingency plan. “But that’s what will happen until a better solution is found. The situation must be reassessed on Monday.
The CLSC and the Center de santé clinic will remain closed until September 19, when additional nurses are due to arrive in Kuujjuarapik, says Ms.me Collins. This means that non-emergency health care such as child vaccination or STBBI screening tests cannot be offered to the population, due to lack of personnel.
This is an extension of the closure that already affected four communities (Puvirnituq, Inukjuak, Kuujjuarapik, Akulivik) at the beginning of August, when the local authorities requested the intervention of the army. Quebec had then rejected this request and promised to send medical personnel quickly and to sign an agreement with the Red Cross. These numbers are still pending.
“We should send staff urgently as the health centers in the North are asking for,” claims Ms.me Labrecque-Saganash, who says she herself suffered from the lack of health resources in her community.
“We leave an entire community without an emergency service. It’s inhuman, ”denounced the candidate on Twitter earlier Saturday by challenging the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé. “What are you going to do with that?” she asked.
“It is extremely worrying, deplores Christine Moore, candidate for the Parti Québécois in Ungava. We send help that doesn’t arrive. And when help is sent, it is not always qualified for the work in a dispensary in remote areas. »
“Medical personnel were urgently sent to the region, and an agreement was reached with the Red Cross to send even more resources shortly,” recalls Mr. Dubé’s office. On August 25, his press officer assured that “the situation is[était] stabilized” and that “in the short term, no breakdown of essential service[était] anticipated”.
In collaboration with Delphine Belzile