“It’s not time to set up a committee, it’s time to find human resources. That’s what I’m hearing on the ground,” said MP Yves Montigny, in response to the Parti Québécois and its MP Joël Arseneau, who are calling for an emergency committee to look into the health crisis.
The flying team must be enhanced, argues the member for René-Lévesque. It requires more resources, he says.
“Except that for that, we have to come to an agreement with the FIQ,” specifies Mr. Montigny concerning an agreement that the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec refused to sign so that nurses could join the ranks of the flying team.
“We saw it very recently, we reached an agreement with the CSN, the FTQ. Now, we are trying to bring nurses here, but we are blocked because it has not been settled with the FIQ. And that is not simple. We are in this difficult situation,” he adds.
Short and long term solutions
In addition to focusing on urgent short-term needs, Yves Montigny says he works every day in consultation with local elected officials “to be able to arrive at a long-term solution to prevent this situation from happening again.”
“It was the same thing in 2022. Le Royer Hospital in Baie-Comeau was facing a significant labor shortage,” he continues.
Working together
Consultation is the watchword for Mr. Montigny: “Our strength is consultation. We are working together on short-term solutions, because we have an urgent workforce problem and because we all agree that private agencies must reach the end of their life. It is deadly for our regions.”
“You won’t hear me criticize the work of health care people. They do a good job with the resources they have. Now, we must be able to succeed in improving the rate of available personnel,” he concludes.
