These measures had to be implemented following the loss of a space of 244 parking spaces adjacent to the hospital and which was rented by the Integrated University Health and Social Services Center of Mauricie-et-du-Centre -du-Québec (CIUSSS MCQ). This lot will be replaced by housing from the Aera rental condos banner.
“Dissatisfied, frustrated, angry”
Asked whether comments had reached her ears, Sara Blackburn, vice-president of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec (SPS MCQ-FIQ), points out that the subject is recurring since two weeks.
“People are quite dissatisfied with the schedules that are offered,” she explains. This is the first thing that the CIUSSS plans to modify. Starting Monday, the shuttles will operate for an additional two and a half hours per weekday, with return trips between 7 and 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., as well as from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
“We remain attentive to the needs of our staff. This extension of shuttle hours also results from several requests in this direction to allow a greater number of employees to use the service,” underlines Josiane Gagnon, spokesperson for the CIUSSS MCQ.
Despite these changes to schedules, some employees continue to feel neglected. This is the case of Paméla Harnois, technical assistant in pharmacy who explains that in her department, several employees work from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., or from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Following a redevelopment, around thirty additional spaces were added to the current CHAUR parking lot. (Stéphane Lessard/Le Nouvelliste)
“We are very dissatisfied, frustrated, angry to see that the shuttle is not suitable for the majority of our shifts,” she reveals. “It’s ridiculous to pay the same price as everyone else [pour une vignette de stationnement] and not having access to the same amenities.”
“What we are also told is the lack of information,” continues Sara Blackburn. She also reports having experienced it personally during a shift last week. After walking from the CEGEP to get to work upon his arrival, no one was able to show him where the boarding was for the way back.
As a result, the shuttle passed while it was poorly positioned and she had to wait around fifteen minutes longer to leave the hospital. “There is no sign saying where to wait. People are a little angry about it because it’s an extra ten or fifteen minutes of waiting,” adds the trade unionist.
The public transport option evaluated
The CIUSSS was toying with the idea of a form of reimbursement, under certain conditions, of the public transportation costs of its employees in order to reduce the number of vehicles using the CHAUR parking lot. A pilot project was launched on this last week.
“In collaboration with the Société de transport de Trois-Rivières (STTR), 50 free annual bus cards are available to CHAUR employees in exchange for their parking sticker. Around ten employees took advantage of this option in the last week,” reveals the spokesperson for the government organization.
The CIUSSS was toying with the idea of a form of reimbursement, under certain conditions, of its employees’ public transportation costs. (Archives Le Nouvelliste)
The CIUSSS will thus assess the popularity of the measure and will be able to adjust the offer if necessary. However, the union that represents nurses and respiratory therapists does not necessarily agree with the requirement to return your parking sticker to have access to public transportation.
“For a large number of people, it is not feasible to always take the bus. If you have two children to pick up from daycare, it doesn’t work,” points out Sara Blackburn. Instead of an “it’s all or all” measure, she believes it would be more advantageous to proportionately reward those who leave their vehicles at home.
“If you have children in shared custody every other week and you need your car to pick them up from daycare at those times, it’s still profitable if you use public transportation 50% of the time. “year,” she illustrates. “It would already be easier for work-family balance.”
Another issue that fits poorly into this measure is that of professionals who are “on call”, such as those in the operating room. “When you are called on duty, you have 30 minutes to be ready to open your room, so they cannot go to the CEGEP to park, or wait for the bus or call a taxi all the time,” reveals the vice-president union.
“People hope to have parkings guard. There are some who would like to use the bus card, but they cannot give up their sticker 100%.”
Other solutions?
On the CIUSSS side, there are around thirty people who have used the Cégep parking lot every day since its establishment. In addition, the hundred places that were reserved at the Pioneers school are now used to full capacity. Following a redevelopment, around thirty additional spaces were also added to the current CHAUR parking lot.
In addition, a bicycle shelter project is currently being developed, following the receipt of financial assistance of $35,000 from the City of Trois-Rivières’ Mobility Improvement Program.
This new situation does not bode well in terms of workforce retention and attraction, according to Paméla Harnois. “How do you expect us to keep our people at the hospital when we have nothing positive to say and there, what’s more, we’re going to tell them to go park at the CEGEP and walk 15 minutes to get there. give back. Those who are on the verge of resigning, well they will resign.”
She imagined a solution to facilitate the mobility of people who, like her, have schedules that do not fit with the shuttle service. Why not block the entrance to the parking lot when the shuttle is operating to force those who can use it to go to the CEGEP? This would leave space for people who arrive outside of the hours selected by authorities.
For her part, union representative Sara Blackburn does not necessarily see this idea favorably. “There are a lot of managers at the hospital and they often work really regular hours,” she points out, however. Would it be imaginable that this category of employees would be directed first to the Cégep grounds?
“We wonder why they didn’t buy the vacant land next door when it was for sale to create a parking lot,” says the vice-president of the SPS MCQ-FIQ, Sara Blackburn. (Stéphane Lessard/Le Nouvelliste)
For the two workers, the ideal would have been the construction of a parking lot to allow everyone, including patients, to park their vehicles. “We wonder why they didn’t buy the vacant land next door when it was for sale to create a parking lot. We agree, the hospital will grow even more in the future and they are always expanding in the parking lots,” says the vice-president of the SPS MCQ-FIQ.
“Visitors always arrive late,” she adds, pointing out the parking situation which is not any better for patients. “We look towards the operating room and people are walking in circles for 20 minutes. It’s almost as if they don’t have to follow someone who is going step by step to take their place.”
“It’s a glaring lack, and not just for two weeks,” she laments. “This is nothing new. The surprise isn’t supposed to be there.”
