The citizens of Rivière-Rouge are still on the alert to find out if their hospital emergency rooms will remain open for good in the evening and at night. The Quebec Court of Appeal on Friday overturned the Superior Court’s judgment and ordered the CISSS des Laurentides to maintain operational emergencies 24 hours a day, at least until March 4.
On this date, both parties will return to Superior Court. Me Carl-Éric Therrien, lawyer for the plaintiff, indicated that the fact that the Court of Appeal annuls the decision of the Superior Court sends “a very strong signal which gives very great hope of a longer renewal”, for having a “proper” trial.
“It sends an excellent signal for the future of things in the Superior Court and possibly remove this sword of Damocles of closure which weighs on citizens,” declared Mr.e Therrien, who affirms that this is an unprecedented judgment.
With Friday’s ruling, the Court of Appeal granted the missing fourth test, which concerns the balance of inconvenience of the order, for the plaintiff to move forward with an injunction.
Me Therrien, who represents a citizen as well as the City of Rivière-Rouge, and the CISSS des Laurentides should go to trial after March 4. It is unclear when citizens can expect a decision without a deadline, but according to Me Therrien this type of file is known to be a priority. He added that several witnesses could be called to testify in the event of a trial.
Me Therrien also hopes that the parties will take advantage of the new deadline to discuss and find solutions.
Last December, the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) of the Laurentides announced that due to lack of staff, emergency services at the Rivière-Rouge hospital would be offered from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. h starting February 1.
The people of the Rouge Valley narrowly avoided a closure when the Court of Appeal ruled that emergency rooms should remain open 24 hours a day until February 19.
Citizens are concerned about a closure since they would have to travel 80 km to get to Sainte-Agathe or 60 km to get to Mont-Laurier, even though these two emergencies are among the busiest in Quebec.
The population vigorously opposed the decision of the CISSS des Laurentides to close the emergency room between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The 24h Emergency Committee submitted a petition to the National Assembly which collected more than 8,500 signatures.
On its website, the CISSS des Laurentides indicated that it had been informed of the Court’s order asking it to temporarily suspend its decision to close the Rivière-Rouge emergency room at night.
“In this context, we are making all necessary efforts to comply with this order by calling on the contribution of any trained person who could lend a hand to the team in place and thus allow us to provide safe services during the night “, we can read on the website.
The CISSS des Laurentides says it has already appealed to workers in the past in order to recruit enough to keep the emergency room open at night. “This situation is taking place in a context of a critical shortage of personnel who can take on this work. »
The CISSS specifies that citizens could be referred to another facility depending on available resources and their medical condition.
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