cisss

CISSS announces a record deficit of $55M 

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – The Gaspé Peninsula Integrated Health and Social Services Centre (CISSS) is heading towards a large deficit of $55 million to $57 million for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2025. This deficit is much higher than the $33 million projected in June. 

“The province has a deficit of $11 billion, of that, $1 billion is allocated to the health network. We’re expecting that funding we’ve had in the past will not be renewed, which will have a major impact,” says Martin Pelletier, President and Chief Executive Operator (CEO). 

“There is $22 million that we were expecting from funding that will not come. This is an added pressure for us. We have a smaller budget than in previous years. We will have to deal with it,” he says. 

Santé Québec, the new agency that will oversee all activities related to the public healthcare system, including providing services and facilitating access, will begin its mandate on December 1. That agency will manage a single consolidated budget. 

“We will see how we, as a network, will face the challenge of a billion dollars,” says Mr. Pelletier. 

The CISSS submitted a $35 million balanced budget plan, a legacy of the last fiscal year, but has yet to receive a response from the Quebec government. 

According to the CISSS, there are no planned cuts to services. “We’re maintaining services. Honestly, my concern is to maintain services based on human resources. It’s not a financial issue. As long as we can call on the independent workforce that accounts for $30 million of the deficit to maintain services, we’ll do it,” assures the CEO. 

The President and CEO of Santé-Québec, Geneviève Biron, recently visited the Gaspé Peninsula CISSS, where the CEO emphasized the unique characteristics of the regional health network. 

“We were able to explain the realities of our region in relation to the size of the territory and the dispersion of users. We don’t have a concentration that allows us to optimize services that much. I think that was well understood,” notes Mr. Pelletier. 

The Gaspé Peninsula is different from other regions such as the North Shore or Abitibi-Témiscamingue, which have major hubs such as Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles, Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d’Or. 

“There is a volume that is possible there, that is not possible here,” justifies Mr. Pelletier, even if Maria (hospital) serves a significant population base. 

The fact that patients from Avignon-Ouest are assigned to the hospital in Campbellton is another unique aspect of the Gaspesian network. 

Martin Pelletier explained that these patients wanted to maintain their connection with the hospital in New Brunswick. However, there are also new challenges that need to be addressed. 

“For the past two years, there has been no obstetrics, and there has been a shift of births to the Maria (hospital) side. There’s also a loss of confidence that I don’t want to explain, and people are bypassing Campbellton to come to Maria. There’s $2 million that is explained by an increase in the volume of activity in Maria, in response to the citizen’s wishes,” explains the CEO. 

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End of independent workforce: CISSS prepares a plan to maintain services

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

CHANDLER – The Quebec government’s plan to gradually eliminate independent healthcare workers could lead to reduced services in the Gaspé Peninsula.

The Gaspé Peninsula Integrated Health and Social Services Centres (CISSS) is developing a plan in the event that the 200 agency workers who work for the organization are no longer present in October 2026, the deadline for ensuring the transition (away from agency workers) in the region.

The increasingly restrictive rules that will apply in the coming months raise concerns about the availability of resources to fill uncovered shifts. “If people from agencies are less interested in coming to the region, we could have needs that remain unmet and that would put us at a greater risk. That’s why we are looking at a critical services plan and being able to identify people in our organization to maintain these critical services. That would mean that other services would have to be slowed down to maintain critical services. It’s a plan. We want to prepare for the worst. We don’t want to be forced to deploy it, but we have to think about it to maintain 24/7 services,” says President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Pelletier.

Before getting to that point, the CISSS will attempt to recruit agency staff, particularly with the new working conditions established in recent collective agreements.

“We will solicit them to see if they would be interested in becoming employees of the CISSS de la Gaspésie. Some are in the region, but there are some in urban centres. It’s a big life choice to say that we’re moving to another region. We’re going to submit the new conditions to them. We’re able to show them what’s available now and they’ll be able to compare what they do in their agencies. They’ll understand that the network is becoming interesting in terms of money,” believes the CEO. So far, one or two people have chosen to work for the CISSS on their own.

Although about 80 international nurses will eventually join the workforce, the CISSS will not make any net gains. “We still have a large turnover of people retiring and we have many who are not very far from retirement. We’re in the process of making these projections. We hope the gap will be positive. It will all depend on the number of people we can retain from outside nurses,” says Mr. Pelletier, who also hopes that some individuals will delay their retirement.

The CISSS is registered for a third international cohort expected next spring. According to Mr. Pelletier, about twenty new candidates could move to the region.

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