The provincial health minister stated on Tuesday that the Quebec government is implementing a number of short-term measures to reduce the overcrowding in hospital emergency departments in Montreal.
Approximately 20 people, including emergency room doctors and nurses, make up the newly formed crisis management team to address the ongoing problem, according to Health Minister Christian Dubé. In the previous week, they considered a number of various concepts.
He told reporters, “We know the solutions, but the problem is putting them into practise.
They developed a strategy, according to Dubé, consisting of three “concrete” steps. For those in need of medical assistance or advice, there is an option for “one call, one service.” The 811 hotline is available to Quebecers of all ages, who can then schedule an appointment if necessary.
Dubé stated, “This is to prevent trips to the ER.”
In order to relieve some of the load on the region’s doctors and emergency rooms, the province will also establish two clinics in Montreal run by qualified nurse practitioners. The health minister acknowledged that it is a step that “we should have taken a long time ago.”
As for the third measure, the Quebec government wants to facilitate the transfer of patients who no longer need hospital care to other care settings. More ER beds as well as beds on other hospital levels are to be made available.
According to Dubé, the government has issued a request for proposals for 1,700 beds outside of the hospital system, and 58% of that additional bed space has already been filled.
The initiative is being implemented as Montreal-area emergency departments struggle with high occupancy rates and lengthy patient wait times. On the same day that the leaders of the province’s emergency departments made their letter public, it was stated that ERs in the province have “reached a breaking point.”
”
READ MORE: Hospital personnel under stress as rising RSV rates in some of Quebec drive up national cases
As of Tuesday afternoon, city hospitals were working at an average of 138 percent capacity, according to the Indexsanté website, which monitors the situation in ERs across the province.
Pediatric ERs have been particularly badly hit recently; according to the most recent update, the Montreal Children’s Hospital is running at 175%, with Sainte-Justine Hospital not far behind at 163%.
— including documents from The Canadian Press.
To address the ER issue in Montreal, Quebec will establish nurse practitioners-led clinics.
About Author
