Already the health network is slowing down due to a staff shortage, 450 more beds will be closed this summer to allow exhausted employees to take vacations.
“We hope to be wrong, but we have the impression that it will be like last summer”, admits the Dre Judy Morris, president of the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians.
A total of 453 beds will be closed in 26 hospitals this summer between the end of June and the beginning of September, compiled The newspaper.
More than 1600 in all
This slowdown in activities is normal during the summer to allow employees to take their vacations.
The lack of beds on the floors causes increased pressure on the emergency room, which has more difficulty transferring patients. However, traffic has returned to its pre-pandemic level, but hospitals have fewer staff.
This drop in service is in addition this year to the 1,170 beds that are already closed due to staff shortages, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). In total, 1,623 beds will therefore be closed this summer, or 9% of the total.
“One of the priorities of the MSSS is to respond to the clear order to give health personnel vacation time this summer. To do this, we will revise the service corridors in order to direct patients to the right places according to priorities, ”we wrote by email.
Before the pandemic, less than 1,000 beds were closed during the summer. And this figure could even increase, since directions have mentioned other possible closures.
Courtesy picture
Dr Gilbert Boucher
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“We no longer know where to ask for help, says the Dr Gilbert Boucher, President of the Association of Emergency Medicine Specialists of Quebec. The population needs services, but we are dysfunctional because we have so many patients. »
“By the end of August, we do not see what will come to help us,” he admits.
These days, up to 14% of patients go home without seeing the doctor, more than usual (9%).
In Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where there is a shortage of 300 nurses out of 1,000 positions, all kinds of services will be canceled this summer, including home care.
“Crying Nurses”
In Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, 44 beds are closed, and the lack of staff forces nurses to work overtime in intensive care.
“We have nurses in tears, they can’t take it anymore,” says Mélanie Gignac, president of the union of the Interprofessional Health Federation.
Meanwhile, 157,000 Quebecers are waiting for surgery. Those who require a long hospitalization could see their operation postponed, for lack of beds.
“It really has an impact on the whole network, says the Dre Morris. Surgeries are always slowing down [durant l’été]but there with the lack of beds […] they’re still going to have to cut. »
Some regions such as Laval and Gaspésie do not close any beds during the summer.
Establishment and number
- Laval University Hospital Center (CHUQ) 79
- Fleurimont Hospital 48
- University of Montreal Hospital Center 40
- Hotel-Dieu of Quebec (CHUQ) 35
- Child Jesus Hospital (CHUQ) 29
- University Institute of Cardiology and Pulmonology of Quebec 24
- Thetford Mines 24
- Saint-Georges de Beauce 24
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 17
- Montreal Neurological Institute (MUHC) 16
- Saint-Francois-d’Assise Hospital (CHUQ) 13
- Hôtel-Dieu of Lévis 13
- Montreal General Hospital (MUHC) 12
- Royal Victoria (CUSM) 12
- Blessed Sacrament Hospital (CHUQ) 11
- La Malbaie 9
- Montreal Children’s Hospital (MUHC) 8
- Asbestos Hospital (Val-des-Sources) 7
- Montmagny 7
- Amos 6
- Malartic 6
- Megantic lake 3
- Baie-Saint-Paul 3
- LaSalle 3
- Hotel-Dieu of Sherbrooke 2
- Granby 2
Total 453 closed beds
Last summer, 2,845 beds were closed in hospitals, mostly due to the pandemic.
editor’s note These figures predict bed closures from the end of June to the beginning of September. These are estimates, the data could evolve according to the workforce. At the time of publication, the closure plan had not yet been established for the CISSSs of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and Mauricie. The CISSS de Lanaudière refused to provide its data to the Journal.
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