Santé Québec

Province sees slight drop in ER wait times

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Officials with Santé Québec, the Crown corporation launched last fall with a stated goal of improving the co-ordination of the various agencies within the province’s public health system, sounded an opti- mistic note as they briefed reporters about provincewide emergency room crowding at a press conference in Montreal on Jan. 10.

“Since Dec. 28, our hospitals have been under pressure,” said Santé Québec executive vice president for operations and transformation Frédéric Abergel. According to the In- dex Santé portal, emergency rooms at full-service hospitals in Quebec City were averaging 100.9 per cent capacity as of this writing; in the first week of January 2024, according to a La Presse report from the time, emergency rooms in the region were at 132 per cent of capac- ity. Other indicators across the province, Abergel said, were also creeping downward relative to where they were last January; the average wait time for a patient registered at an emergency room has dropped from 19.2 to just under 18 hours. Forty-eight of the 55 large hospitals in the province (with 100 beds or more) have seen some improvements in ER wait times, Santé Québec data suggested. “Overall, we have seen improvements even though we still have some challenges,” said Abergel, adding that the agency planned to provide weekly updates.

“We will keep working with establishments to improve things … and we have some busy weeks ahead. We want to accompany regional health agencies to help them find their own solutions. We’ve only [legally] existed for 41 days and we’re still putting everything in place.” However, he emphasized that he didn’t want to imply “that everything is going great.”

He said the agency had been working since last July to prepare for the winter rush, focus- ing on a better organization of care for patients who frequently end up in emergency rooms with poorly controlled chronic or mental health conditions, check-in calls to seniors 75 and older who are on the family doctor waiting list, and better co-ordinating the schedules of certain health professionals so patients can be discharged at any time of the week.

He said the agency would “stay on guard” over the next few weeks as flu season is expected to peak, but that initial indications were encouraging.

Abergel cited data showing that 44 per cent of emergency room visits were for conditions that could be treated else- where. “There are patients who have a family doctor and who come to the emergency room because they can’t reach their doctor – we’re going to find out why,” he said. “We need to understand the reasons why people go to the ER [in non- emergency situations].”

He encouraged people concerned about their health or the health of a loved one to call the Info-Santé 811 helpline. Calling 811 and pressing 3 leads to the Primary Care Access Point, where a nurse can help a patient who doesn’t have a family doctor book an appointment with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist. “Obviously, if your condition requires it, you do need to go to the emergency room,” he said.

Health ministry announces grace period for staff with two jobs

Ruby Pratka, LJI reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The Ministry of Health and Social Services has put the brakes on a plan that would have required some health workers holding multiple jobs to pick just one and have their hours reduced as a result.

Dozens of health and social services facilities and regional centres across the province are in the process of merging into a single entity, Santé Québec. Workers cannot work a total of more than 40 hours a week for a single employer without getting paid overtime; as a result, employees with two or more jobs who work a total of more than 40 hours per week in the health system were told they could no longer do so. “As of Dec. 1, 2024, you will not be able to maintain an assignment or position in more than one establishment if the total hours of the assignments or positions per pay period exceed the equivalent of full time,” reads a letter dated Nov. 8, shared with the QCT by one of the affected employees.

About 1,300 employees across the province work multiple jobs totalling over 40 hours per week, many of them in relatively low-paid roles. As the QCT and other media outlets reported last week, the announcement was panic-inducing for people who rely on the extra income to pay down debt, raise children on their own or support family members overseas.

On Nov. 20, Santé Québec CEO Geneviève Biron announced that a one-year transition period would be put in place to allow “double- employed” workers to find solutions.

“We are grateful to these employees for their contribution and want to take the time to support them. In the context of a labour shortage and high demand for services, this transition period will al- low the employees concerned to continue their services to users and reduce the pressure on staff. Santé Québec will work with union partners to find accommodations,” Biron said in a statement. “I made a commitment to avoid wall- to-wall approaches. In recent days, I have heard the cri de coeur of several employees in a situation of double employment. I hope that we will take the time to support them and find solutions for the benefit of users and staff. In the coming months, Santé Québec will support the employees concerned to find solutions adapted to their situation while ensuring the safety of users and teams.”