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home / 世界杯决赛2022

quebec said no to national initiative on pediatric ers: source

"sainte-justine (hospital) wanted to get involved, but the quebec government wouldn't allow it."

by aaron derfel

jun 20 2023
read time 2 minute read
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in january, when pediatric emergency rooms across canada surged with kids suffering from rsv and other respiratory infections during the pandemic, the federal government sought to bring together children’s ers from across the country to look for solutions.
however, ottawa quietly dropped the initiative after quebec refused to take part even though ste-justine and the montreal children’s hospitals agreed.
“ste-justine wanted to get involved, but the quebec government wouldn’t allow it,” said a source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the file.
the refusal by quebec to participate in the national er initiative underscores the tensions with the federal government when it comes to the management of health care, a provincial jurisdiction. although the canada health act ensures universal access to medical procedures, quebec and the provinces have been reluctant to cede any of their jurisdiction with the federal government.
still, ottawa grew increasingly alarmed from october of last year until february as pediatric emergency rooms across canada were hard hit with children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (rsv) and an unprecedented spike in the flu, in addition to covid-19 infections. in quebec, the situation was so dire that the health ministry issued an internal directive to children’s hospitals in november mandating the transfer of very ill 16- and 17-year-olds to adult intensive care units to liberate pediatric hospital beds.

“it’s definitely the busiest that i can remember in my 20 years of practice at the montreal children’s hospital,” er physician suzanne vaillancourt said at the time. “we are operating at over capacity every single day. i feel like we’re experiencing right now what the adult hospitals were experiencing at the peak of covid.”

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in january, just as negotiations intensified between the federal government and the provinces over a renewed health-care funding deal, ottawa tried in vain to get pediatric ers from coast to coast to work together — with the co-operation of the provinces. a month later, the provinces and the federal government reached a deal boosting health transfers by $198 billion over 10 years .

in exchange, the provinces committed to sharing more information with the federal government on wait times and surgical backlogs. ottawa would then go on to sign bilateral funding deals with the provinces, although quebec has not yet signed an agreement .

in march, when quebec tabled its 2023-24 budget, it boosted funding on health care by $906 million to $59 billion . at the same time, it received an increase of more than $1.5 billion in health transfers from ottawa. the same budget financed $1.7 billion in tax cuts.

the montreal gazette sent a query by email to premier françois legault’s press attaché last week about quebec’s decision not to take part in the national pediatric er initiative, but has not yet received a response.

antoine de la durantaye, health minister christian dubé’s press attaché, declined to answer questions about the political matter, referring a reporter instead to the non-political communications department of the health ministry. officials in the communications department did not respond on monday.
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in the meantime, the ers at the montreal children’s and ste-justine, quebec’s largest pediatric hospital, were overcrowded on monday evening. at the montreal children’s, the er occupancy rate was 117 per cent, with the average wait time of patients on stretchers at nine hours and 10 minutes.
source: index santé
source: index santé
aderfel@postmedia.com
twitter.com/aaron_derfel

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