By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
The “sunflower” program providing English-speaking hospital staff at Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital and Memphremagog Hospital with sunflower badges to make them easier to spot has roots in the Gaspé and Côte-Nord regions.
Lou Landry, communications co-ordinator at the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux (CISSS) de la Gaspésie, said a similar program, YelloMello, has existed in the Gaspé since at least 2021, in hospitals and clinics throughout the region.
“I am told that we are receiving positive feedback from the English-speaking population. … English-speaking people tell us that it allows them to more easily identify employees who will be able to answer their questions quickly. Several employees have also mentioned in the past that they are proud to participate in this initiative.”
The CISSS de la Côte-Nord has also had a program in place since 2021, where English-speaking employees wear yellow badge clips. About 400 staff have the badges, according to CISSS spokesperson Pascal Paradis.
Jody Lessard, based in Baie-Comeau, is the president of the North Shore Community Association, an advocacy group for English speakers in the Côte-Nord region, and also president of the regional access committee for English-language health services in the region. She explained that the initiative started with a voluntary list of bilingual employees. When the idea of giving employees a visual identifier came up, Lessard mentioned she had seen English-speaking health professionals in the Laurentians wearing yellow tags to indicate that they could provide English service.
The Côte-Nord yellow badge program was born. In the region, it’s known as the Assistant Linguistic Liaison Orientation (ALLO) program. “With the language laws we can’t use an English tag, but the ALLO [acronym] sounds like hello to an English speaker,” she said. “It has made patients less shy about asking for English service.”
Lessard explained that there are about 5,300 anglophones in the region, many of whom are older and many of whom live in remote Lower North Shore communities without second-line health care services or road links with the rest of the province. “The biggest challenge is transport – it’s a long drive, or you have to fly in, and then there’s an overnight stay. Health centres help organize transport, but it’s still a lot for a 15- or 30-minute consultation and the older you get, the more stressful that is, especially with the language barrier…but things have improved, and there are a lot of staff who can speak English. “ In addition to the ALLO program, Lessard said several North Shore institutions were putting pictograms in place to help non-French-speaking patients find their way around.
“It would be really nice if [yellow badges and pictograms] could spread across the province,” said Lessard. “Remember the ‘orange wave’ a few years ago? It would be nice to have a yellow wave in health care.”