The CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal asked the population to avoid the emergencies of the Lakeshore General Hospital, which were overwhelmed this Sunday morning, while a demonstration of the FIQ (Interpersonal Health Federation of Quebec) to demand better working conditions.
In a press release released on Sunday, it was announced that the occupancy rate of stretchers at the establishment located in Pointe-Claire was 132%. The hospital is designated to receive positive COVID-19 cases, and outbreaks in several units, combined with understaffing, make the job particularly difficult.
MARIO BEAUREGARD / QMI AGENCY
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The CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal recommends that the public “use the alternatives to emergencies”, in particular by visiting a clinic for minor health problems or by contacting Info-Santé. However, people who had an appointment at Lakeshore are invited to come anyway.
Members of the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ) decided to hold a demonstration there, while health workers have been calling for better working conditions for months.
MARIO BEAUREGARD / QMI AGENCY
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“The last few months have had the effect of a tsunami in both the professional and personal lives of nurses, nursing assistants, respiratory therapists and clinical perfusionists,” declared Nancy Bédard, President of the FIQ, in a press release.
While negotiations began over a year and a half ago, the current crisis has only made conditions even more painful than they already were, she denounced.
MARIO BEAUREGARD / QMI AGENCY
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She asks the government “to make an extra effort” to “reach an agreement in principle”.
Last summer, a modular unit was installed at Lakeshore to conserve its bed capacity and reduce the potential for transmission of COVID-19.
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