A citizen mobilization took place in Shawville on Monday afternoon to call on the Quebec government to equalize the bonuses offered to medical imaging technologists in rural areas.
Currently, technologists at hospitals in Shawville, Maniwaki and Wakefield can receive an annual bonus of $18,000, while those at hospitals in Hull, Gatineau and Papineau are entitled to bonuses of $22,000.
A most unfair situation, according to the citizens’ group behind the organization of the demonstration.
It’s a question of lack of parity, complains Judith Spence, spokesperson for the group Les citoyens du Pontiac.
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Judith Spence, spokesperson for the Pontiac Citizens group
Photo : Radio-Canada / Maxim Saavedra-Ducharme
As of September 9, four out of six technologists at the Shawville Hospital plan to leave to work at the Hull or Gatineau hospitals. For Maniwaki, this is the case for two of the three professionals. 20%, $4,000… that’s enough motivation to leave, regrets Ms. Spence.
Without these technicians, the hospital cannot function. Quietly, slice by slice, it could cause the hospital to close.
A quote from Judith Spence, spokesperson for the group Les citoyens du Pontiac
Judith Spence has a sense of déjà vu. The fear we have is a story we’ve already lived. We’ve already lost our obstetrics department. So, it’s a real possibility, she worries.
Consequences for patients
The spokesperson for the citizens’ group La Voix du Pontiac, Josey Bouchard, fears for the region’s population and fears serious consequences for patients.
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Josey Bouchard is a spokesperson for the citizens’ group La Voix du Pontiac. (File photo)
Photo : Radio-Canada / Frédéric Pepin
“We are absolutely devastated,” she said. “The impact can and will be major. Without imaging services, there are many diagnoses that cannot be made; therefore, people will have to travel to the city.
It’s like putting a bandage on a hemorrhage. There’s a hemorrhage in the city, we put a small bandage on. And there, oops! it’s an open wound that opens up elsewhere in a rural area. We put a small bandage on.
A quote from Josey Bouchard, spokesperson for the citizens’ group La Voix du Pontiac
How can we understand that we are going to pay people who do exactly the same work, differences of $4,000 per year, just because they are elsewhere to do the work, says Ms. Bouchard, offended. It’s the same work, it’s the same pace, it’s the same machines. […] It’s incomprehensible.
Ms. Bouchard fears a disruption in service at the Shawville Hospital if, on September 9, more than half of its medical imaging technologists leave for downtown.
This concern is shared by the Alliance of Professional and Technical Staff in Health and Social Services (APTS), which wanted the government to agree to equalize the premiums before September 9 in the hope of convincing technologists to reverse their decision.
Our demands have been the same since the beginning, reiterates the president of the APTS in Outaouais, Guylaine Laroche. What we want is parity with Ontario salaries in order to keep our technologists in place.
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The president of the APTS in Outaouais, Guylaine Laroche
Photo : Radio-Canada / Maxim Saavedra-Ducharme
The fact that bonuses are unequal between regions is causing a mass movement within our own staff, describes Ms. Laroche. That is to say, there are people from the outskirts who have applied for positions in the city.
What we want to avoid is the devitalization of our rural areas and what we want is for the population to be able to obtain services in their local areas.
A quote from Guylaine Laroche, president of the APTS in Outaouais
At this time, neither the Treasury Board nor the Department of Health have confirmed that they have made a decision on the bonuses.
In a written statement sent to Radio-Canada on Sunday, the office of Health Minister Christian Dubé recalled that the Ministry of Health negotiated and agreed on the premiums with the APTS.
Public relations officer Audrey Noiseux added that a committee has been set up to monitor the effects and will make recommendations, if necessary.
Proximity to Ontario
Furthermore, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, visited Gatineau at the end of August, and more recently Maniwaki and Shawville.
It was a complete facade, decries Pontiac MP and Liberal health critic André Fortin, who feels that the public’s concerns were not heard.
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Pontiac MP and Liberal health critic André Fortin (File photo)
Photo : Radio-Canada / Sylvain Roy Roussel
There are no good reasons not to give bonuses to workers in rural areas, who are also faced with the proximity to Ontario, retorts André Fortin.
He gives the example of the Shawville Hospital, which is less than an hour from the Arnprior hospital and where some technologists have also expressed their intention to cross the river.
This is an Outaouais issue that must be treated equally throughout the Outaouais, he insists, adding that $48,000, which would cost extra to make it equal, is very little to pay to ensure quality service.
With information from Alexandra Angers, Félix Pilon and Charlotte Tremblay
