A significant increase in the volume of screening for COVID-19 that has occurred in the past few days has prompted the CIUSSS of the Capitale-Nationale to recruit around sixty health professionals to come and help the teams in place.
Traffic has resumed significantly at the Place Fleur de Lys screening center. While there were around 200 tests carried out daily at the bottom of the wave, these have doubled, or even tripled, in the last days.
According to Serge Garneau, deputy director of general health services at the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, about 600 tests have been performed daily since the middle of the past week, only at the Place Fleur de Lys center. With the mobile teams – there are four at present – 750 tests are carried out every day.
The organization therefore wants to act quickly and, if possible, put to work, as of this Sunday, the new recruits, since it estimates that the volume will further increase in the coming days.
“This is secondary to the potential announcement of a second wave. As we want to act rather than react, we really want to prepare to carry out all the samples that we are asked to make at the CIUSSS, ”explains Mr. Garneau.
He explains that screening is the best way to counter the second wave.
“Even if community contamination is rare or there is none, there are isolated cases. They are isolated for 14 days at home and they will no longer be vectors of contamination, ”argued Mr. Garneau.
A dozen employees are at work at Place Fleur de Lys. The CIUSSS wishes to have 28 as soon as possible. The other recruits will be assigned to the mobile teams.
There are currently four mobile teams and the CIUSSS wishes to add seven.
The types of employees favored for recruitment are physiotherapists, dental hygienists, dentists, nutritionists, respiratory therapists, medical technologists, audiologists, nurses or licensed practical nurses who are recently retired or who are not currently employed not a full-time job, says the deputy director.
The professionals who had come forward in the spring, thanks to various government initiatives, such as the “jecontribue” platform, are no longer available, as most of them have returned to work.
Volunteers who come to lend a hand will have training, protective equipment and will be entitled to an 8% bonus linked to the context of COVID-19. They can send their application to jecontribuecovid19.gouv.qc.ca or to recrutementdepistage.ca.
For the moment, the analysis capacity is 1900 tests per day. The CHU de Québec will soon receive an analysis device that will process the results of 3000 tests per day, if the need arises.
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