Concern mounting over the partial opening of the Cloutier-du Rivage emergency room
The Centre Cloutier-du Rivage’s emergency room in the Cap-de-la-Madeleine sector will open with only partial medical coverage for the evening shift for an undetermined period. The Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de la Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québec (FIQ-SPSMCQ) got wind of the news today. They are against this decision.
The Cloutier-du Rivage emergency room’s recent history is peppered with partial closures and service interruptions, mostly during the summer. But today the concern is over the instability felt by healthcare professionals and the public. “This isn’t the first time that patient services suffer a blow. Healthcare professionals are again left to bear the cost of poor management in this situation. It is a matter of medical coverage yet again, with doctor presence at stake,” said FIQ-SPSMCQ Transitional Executive Committee President Nathalie Perron. “Citizens are going to the emergency room but there’s no guarantee they will receive medical attention. It’s unbelievable. The Cloutier-du Rivage emergency room offers neighbourhood services and we need to ensure they are protected in the region.”
Let’s not forget that last February, Health Minister Gaétan Barrette, in an attempt to sound reassuring, said that closing the Cloutier-du Rivage emergency room was absolutely out of the question. But just a few months later, that statement no longer held water. The other possibility is that the emergency room could be turned into a super clinic, an idea that is once again on hold in the region.