By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

Demonstrators gathered once again in front of the Lachine Hospital as part of the “Save the Lachine Hospital” effort to restore all services needed in the community-based hospital. Protesters were joined by municipal and provincial public officials, the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN), the Lachine Residents Association, the Save the Lachine Hospital committee and multiple elected officials.

Just over a year ago, advocates for the Lachine hospital led by Dr. Paul Saba called for the reopening of the emergency room (ER) that was closed to ambulances and throughout the evening-morning hours. The ER was reopened following a resolution at the National Assembly last April that guaranteed all services at the Lachine hospital as a fully functioning community hospital, however the ICU was never reopened.

“The ER is not fully functional without an ICU to sustain it,” Saba explained to The Suburban. Dr. Saba was reluctant to name the MUHC as he has been the recipient of intimidation tactics for speaking publicly in the past, but as he was pressed by The Suburban for an explanation as to why the ICU was not reopened at the time of the ER reopening given that all speakers clearly demonstrated its need, Saba stated carefully “they need to be made aware of the importance of the ICU within the framework of a fully functioning hospital offering emergency services and hopefully that message will be made clear today.”The Suburban asked if the MUHC was not aware of the essential need of a functioning ICU to support the operations of any ER. Saba simply shrugged and motioned his refusal to speak further.

“The ICU is the only way to have complete healthcare services to offer the population. It is important that healthcare workers express themselves freely about what is really happening in the health and social services sector. The government has opened the doors to private healthcare services while neglecting the public sector. Health services are fundamental in all of our lives, regardless of social economic class,” CSN president for the Montreal sector Dominique Daigneault explained to The Suburban.

“The ICU is the heart of the emergency. Without intensive care we need to call up other hospitals and put patients who need immediate intensive care in ambulances instead,” Lachine hospital nurse Etienne Lebeau said. “The most sick and in need of critical care are currently being transferred out while in a critical state,” Lachine hospital ER nurse Marylene Beccherini explained.

Entertainment legend, author and influencer Sheldon Kagan attended the demonstration in a show of support. “It is incredible that after all these years advocates need to go back over and over to explain the need for its services. As part of the MUHC, it makes no sense that they can’t enable them to operate the facilities that they require and people have to go to hospitals much further away to get the care that they need. Lives can be lost while they are being transported to other hospitals when the Lachine hospital clearly wants to take care of them. It is a tragedy that all services have not been reestablished,” Kagan told The Suburban.

Lachine Mayor Maja Vadonovic focused her remarks on the optimistic perspective of the new construction taking place which promises to bring top of the line healthcare services including a palliative care unit and a training centre for family doctors to the Lachine Hospital but the former mayor of Lachine Claude Dauphin who currently sits on the Save the Lachine Hospital Committee says without the ICU, it’s just a “big new Mercedes without the tires”.

“Our hospital needs to serve our citizens. When I see the occupancy of other hospitals and this one only operating at 65%, why can’t this hospital help support others around it,” MNA for Marquette Enrico Ciccone stated in response to The Suburban. n