Sophie Demers
LJI Reporter
The current Outaouais health-care system is in critical condition. SOS Outaouais, created by the Gatineau Health Foundation, is a coalition of local organizations and citizens advocating for better health care in the Outaouais by calling on the provincial government to improve health services and raising awareness of the situation.
“The goal is to meet the needs of the Gatineau people and the Outaouais region and to work with the Quebec government to ensure a real investment in our health-care services. It is to do our part to ensure that the people of Gatineau are treated as they are in Montreal, as they are in Sherbrooke, in Quebec City, and everywhere else,” said Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, after Gatineau’s municipal council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the coalition’s cause on July 9.
SOS Outaouais is making two demands to the Quebec National Assembly. First, the coalition asks the Quebec Government “to correct the historic disparities in health and social services for the Outaouais”. The second demand urges Quebec to take immediate action to improve health care and social services in the region.
“It’s very important for SOS Outaouais because, through this gesture, the city of Gatineau and the City Council officially recognize that our health and social services system in Outaouais needs help. It should be a source of pride for the region, which it is not, with the current state of services,” said Luc Cadieux, President of the Gatineau Health Foundation. “Elected officials have realized that this health crisis has consequences for the municipality. We hear a lot that there are people who think of leaving the region because they cannot get access to health services.”
SOS Outaouais highlights that currently the Outaouais is $181 million dollars short, compared to the average annual provincial spending on health and social services programs. This equates to $448.54 per person. Wait times are the longest in the province, Gatineau hospital operates with less than 30% staff while the Hull hospital operates with less than 50%. The Outaouais is short 1,138 direct-care nurses and 264 physicians.
Cadieux encourages residents to lend their voice to the coalition by going to the website and signing up to get updated on the situation. Residents are also able to share their personal experience with the health-care system in the Outaouais through a form on the website. https://fondationsantegatineau.ca/sos-outaouais/
“We are starting a large distribution of free lawn posters. So, if people want to support us, it will accentuate the weight of the movement and it will show the extent and the impact of your commitment as a citizen. We encourage participation by lending your voice to the coalition,” said Cadieux.
Photo: Gatineau Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette reiterating the council’s support for the SOS Outaouais Coalition at a July 9 press conference.
Photo Credit: Screenshot by Sophie Demers