The emergency room at the Rivière-Rouge hospital in the Laurentians, which was at risk of having to close in the evening and at night, will remain operational 24 hours a day until at least December 1. An agreement was reached by the stakeholders and ratified by the Superior Court of Quebec.
The saga has been going on since December 2023, when the CISSS des Laurentides announced that it would have to close the emergency services at the Rivière-Rouge hospital between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. starting February 1, 2024, due to a lack of manpower.
The closure was narrowly avoided by an appeals court ruling and injunctions have since kept the emergency room open in the evening and overnight.
The agreement between the City of Rivière-Rouge and the CISSS des Laurentides was ratified on August 1, which allowed the injunction to be renewed on December 1. However, this is not a long-term solution.
Me Carl-Éric Therrien, lawyer for the plaintiff, indicated that the negotiations between the two parties are “frank and objective.”
“For the moment, the case is not settled, but we must respect the quality of the negotiations that took place through the prosecutors,” he said.
Me Therrien said that the City and the CISSS took into consideration the issues related to all parties during the discussions, that is to say a problem of recruiting personnel and a question of security of the population.
The CISSS des Laurentides website states that this situation is due to a critical lack of personnel. “We are currently benefiting from the invaluable support of professionals. However, their assistance and availability are temporary. The challenge of maintaining these presences therefore remains major, so that the population can receive quality and safe services,” it can be read.
“It would be interesting if we could find a more lasting solution by December 1st. If this is not the case, we will return to the Court to extend the order and therefore [avoir] a trial, he explained. But I am very confident that the talks will continue between now and December 1 in a manner as respectful as they were put forward in March.”
In parallel with the discussions, “we are moving our case forward legally speaking,” added Mr. Therrien.
The latter argued that an agreement would avoid prolonging legal proceedings and resorting to trial. It would also allow for more precise parameters for the population who find themselves in uncertainty with extended delays.
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