Published January 15, 2025

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – The Gaspé Peninsula Integrated Health and Social Services Centre (CISSS) is considering how to respond to the request to reduce hours worked by 3% in order to make up for part of Santé Québec’s shortfall. 

The organization calculates that this request represents 160,000 working hours, equivalent to 100 full-time positions. 

However, for the current year, the use of independent labour to maintain services alone represents 400,000 working hours and costs between $25 million and $30 million. 

In an email, the CISSS indicated that it is continuing its review of how to reorganize services to reduce hours worked, with the intention to prioritize a reduction in independent labour. 

This could ultimately result in a reduction in hours worked, without reducing the number of positions as is happening in other regions of Quebec. 

The review also involves maintaining a sufficient number of employees to provide services. 

Among other measures, a moratorium is underway on the posting of administrative positions which will lead to a reduction in hours worked. 

In addition, discussions are held every week with Santé Québec on the evolution of the financial situation and on the directions to take. 

The Gaspé Peninsula CISSS must recover $40 million by March 31 to meet the budgetary restraints requested by Quebec, which is the equivalent of a month and a half of activities. 

The President and CEO of the Gaspé Peninsula CISSS, Martin Pelletier, has already indicated that it was impossible to achieve this objective in the short time frame set out by the Quebec government. 

“I’ll tell you right away. It won’t be $40 million. It will be what we are able to do. Forty million dollars in five months would take drastic measures. We will not do that,” the leader said at the organization’s last board meeting at the end of November. 

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