Dr. Paul Saba

West Island CIUSSS slashes 160 jobs

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The healthcare landscape in Montreal’s West Island is undergoing significant changes as the West Island CIUSSS announced plans to eliminate more than 160 positions, marking another chapter in Quebec’s contentious healthcare reform under the newly established Santé Québec.

The local health authority, grappling with an $80 million deficit—approximately six percent of its annual budget—will implement these cuts across both administrative and clinical sectors over the coming months. The announcement comes amid broader provincial healthcare restructuring that has already seen over 1,000 healthcare positions eliminated across Quebec between mid-November and mid-December.

The impact is already being felt on the ground. The agency has begun cost-cutting measures by ending approximately 100 replacement assignments, affecting positions covering maternity and disability leaves. Additionally, it is reducing overtime and eliminating certain on-call bonuses.

Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician in Lachine with extensive emergency room experience, warns that these cuts could have serious implications for patient care. “Cutbacks in healthcare will have an impact on healthcare outcomes,” Dr. Saba told The Suburban. “Rather than cut back on healthcare resources they need be relocated to areas that are pressing such as long wait times for surgeries, radiology services, including diagnostic biopsies and frontline services, including primary healthcare.”

Dr. Saba emphasizes the potential domino effect of these cuts. “If there are cutbacks in hospital services such as hospital admissions, the emergency rooms will back up, causing more delays in care,” he explained, adding that delayed services could prove life-threatening when early interventions are necessary.

Healthcare workers’ unions have expressed serious concerns about the impact of these cuts. Union representatives warn that it’s impossible to implement such significant staffing reductions without affecting service quality, potentially creating a ripple effect where reduced services in one area lead to increased pressure on emergency rooms and other acute care services.

Adding to the complexity, recent studies show that 43 out of every 100 new nurses in Quebec leave the profession before turning 35, a 29 percent increase since 2013. This retention crisis, combined with the current job cuts, raises questions about the long-term viability of these cost-saving measures.

“The government needs to be transparent about where the cuts are being done and their potential outcomes,” Dr. Saba stresses. As the West Island CIUSSS moves forward with its restructuring plan, the healthcare community watches closely. The success—or failure—of these measures could set a precedent for similar changes across Quebec’s healthcare system, all while the province continues its ambitious transformation under Santé Québec’s leadership.

For West Islanders, the message is clear: the healthcare system that they have known is changing. Whether these changes will lead to the improved efficiency promised by Santé Québec or result in reduced access to care, as predicted by healthcare advocates, remains to be seen. What’s certain is that the coming months will be crucial in determining the future of healthcare delivery in the West Island. n

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Lachine doctor calls recent ER study “a tragic commentary”

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

A study by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) that was published recently revealed shocking numbers of patients who walked out of emergency rooms (ER) without receiving medical care due to lengthy wait times.

According to the study’s findings, over a period of approximately 11 months in 2023-2024, 3.2 million patients visited Quebec’s emergency departments, and 11.5 per cent of them, or 376,460 people, left before receiving medical attention.

“This is a tragic commentary on our healthcare system. Many patients either don’t have a family doctor or have tried to go to a clinic, so this often is their last resort. Most people with benign conditions will not wait 12, 14, 16 hours or more to be seen by an emergency room physician. We need to track these patients to know what their conditions were. Did they find care elsewhere? Did they get worse? Did their condition improve?” Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician operating in Lachine, said to The Suburban.

According to the Quebec Statistics Institute (ISQ), 26.7 per cent of Quebecers did not have a primary care physician in 2023. This number had gone up by nearly nine per cent since 2019. “We cannot operate adequately with a healthcare system where nearly thirty percent of the population has no family doctor along with a lack of hospital care capacity. These two issues coupled together can lead to increased deaths that could have been avoided otherwise,” Saba explained. “We need to increase the numbers of family doctors in the community and emergency room doctors in the hospitals.”

When asked how these issues could be improved, Dr. Saba stated that “doctors need improved working conditions to be encouraged to stay in the province and avoid too many of them switching to the private sector. Another option is to slow down the retirement of family doctors by giving them incentives. We need to continue to increase class sizes in medical schools and prioritize family medicine. For hospitals and ER’s specifically, to welcome more doctors — we need to train more nurses. They too need to be incentivized to choose and choose to remain in the profession with adequate pay and healthy working conditions.” n

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Councillor slams ‘Save Lachine Hospital’ signs

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

At the most recent public council meeting in Lachine, City Councillor Micheline Rouleau ventured out with an independent speech, not discussed by council, concerning the Save the Lachine Hospital citizens committee’s latest efforts to raise awareness about the non-existent ICU at the hospital by placing lawn signs on private property throughout the municipality. Rather than join the fight for a fully functional hospital, Rouleau gave a speech slamming the efforts.

“You are harming the population and yourselves [by putting up the signs],” Rouleau told attendees at the public council meeting. “I am asking a favour to all those who have signs in front of their homes to take them down because you are creating an incredible stress to the hospital employees, the patients and to the foundation because we need to collect $5 million by 2026 to buy things not provided by the government.”

Rouleau is the co-president of The Lachine Hospital Foundation which raises funds for the Lachine Hospital and stated the the signs were harmful to the fundraising efforts of the Foundation. “We (the Foundation) are moving forward while others are holding back and it is unhealthy. If people hear a bad reputation of the hospital, while there is not actually, everything is going well, then we will find ourselves with a lack of staff because people will have heard that it will not work,” she stated. Rouleau goes on to say that certain donors are holding back and telling the Foundation that they “won’t make donations unless the hospital will be a fully functional hospital.”

Lachine Mayor Maja Vodanovic, a long time supporter of the Save the Lachine Hospital committee and co-chair at the Lachine Hospital Foundation, was visibly surprised by Rouleau’s comments. When questioned about her reaction by The Suburban, she responded that “What Mme. Rouleau said at the council meeting was unexpected. It was not discussed prior in caucus and it took me by surprise. Although I believe Mme. Rouleau was well intentioned, she was not speaking in the name of the whole council.”

Dr. Paul Saba, who was honoured by the City of Lachine recently at a gala for his efforts towards the Lachine Hospital, says he was also shocked by Rouleau’s comments. “This is a collective effort, supported by the population, medical professionals and elected officials. A fully functional hospital requires an ICU and we are positively advocating for something that is beneficial to the hospital and to the patients. Lawn signs raising awareness is a positive effort. Anyone who advocates against a hospital having an ICU which is the heart of the hospital is advocating to put patients’ health and lives at risk and this is unacceptable. Studies have shown that ICUs save lives. What is more ‘stressful’ — having an ICU or not having an ICU? I don’t understand the purpose of advocating against the population’s determination to have an ICU in their local community hospital.”

The Suburban reached out to Micheline Rouleau, who did not respond for comment. n

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Lachine doctor warns of “deeply concerning” failing ER stats

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) published troubling results of its 2023-2024 study of Quebec’s Emergency Room (ER) statistics revealing that 11.5 per cent of visitors left this past year before receiving medical treatment.

According to the study, conducted over an 11-month period, the number of patients who visited ERs over the last year is 3.2 million with 377,404 patients leaving prior to receiving medical care, mainly due to lengthy wait times averaging 5 hours and 13 minutes in ERs across Quebec. The data collected in the study does not include the number of patients that were referred to another health-care provider outside of the ER at the time of their visit.

The study, headed by economist Emmanuelle B. Faubert, also reveals that 27.5 per cent of the patients that left the ERs were category P1, P2 and P3 patients, all of which are patients requiring urgent care. Over 70 per cent of category P4 and P5 patients seeking non-urgent care left the ERs without being treated.

Faubert says that any patient leaving the ER is concerning. “A patient who leaves without treatment runs the risk of worsening his or her condition and returning to the emergency department as a more complex case.”

Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician in Lachine, Quebec, is calling the study “a tragic commentary on our healthcare system”.

“Many patients don’t have a family doctor or have tried to go to a clinic (prior to visiting an ER), so this often is their last resort. Most people with benign conditions won’t wait so many hours to be seen by an emergency room physician,” Saba explained to The Suburban.

In his ongoing fight entitled “Save the Lachine Hospital” Saba says that this is just one of many examples of how the healthcare system is failing to provide necessary services that can save lives and shorten wait times. “With the ICU closed at the Lachine Hospital since December 2020, this exacerbates waiting times for our patients, not only here but on the rest of the island.”

Faubert says that in consideration of increased budgets and reforms, this is a major problem. “This is a big problem because it shows that our health-care system is incapable of taking care of Quebecers and it’s dangerous when you consider that the population is aging and needs are increasing.” n

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“Open the ICU to save lives” Lachine demonstrators demand

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

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

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