“We will have to prove ourselves,” says Geneviève Biron, CEO of Santé Québec

Appointed six months ago by Minister Christian Dubé at the head of Santé Québec, Geneviève Biron believes that there is “confusion” in the province’s health network. She hopes to establish “a good line of command” there.

In interview at Midi infoWednesday, the big boss of Santé Québec delivered her impressions after a six-month tour of the various health establishments, now brought together in this new state company.

First, she saw that in this network people are under pressure, there are many needs and the volume is increasingshe explained on Alec Castonguay’s microphone.

Then, she who comes from the private sector was able to see that there are many captains on the ice.

The former CEO of Biron Groupe Santé (a family business) says he was really marked by the multiplicity guidelines and goals from different sources in this network intended to care for more than nine million Quebecers.

For me, a good, well-functioning organization must have a good line of command.

Ms. Biron is convinced that the board of directors of Santé Québec will play, as of December 1, its role as operator of the health network, so that we will be able to work with all of the CEO [du réseau] to make things run better.

There is of confusion in the system, observes Geneviève Biron. She cites as an example that sometimes it is enough for a subject to be discussed in a meeting for a CEO then receives a letter asking him to develop this or that thing. So that THE CEO no longer know where to turnshe said.

We can’t ask CEOs to be responsible and manage their organizations well if we don’t really have a clear idea of ​​where we’re going and how we want to operate.

An anticipated deficit of $1 billion

- revealed, at the beginning of October, that a deficit of one billion dollars was expected in the coffers of public health establishments in 2023-2024. To avoid this pitfall, CEO of these establishments had the message to reduce their expenses as much as possible.

On this subject, on Wednesday, Ms. Biron declared that managers must do their job well, particularly on the financial level. Santé Québec will not necessarily apply a solution wall to wallshe clarified, and is already working to establish with managers a local action plan. They have already determined several actions themselves which are different depending on the regions and situations, she said.

Health must do its part for the sound financial management of the State.

François Legault’s government promises that, by 2026, everyone will be able to have access to a health professional in Quebec. Access: this is where the problem lies, and particularly on the front line, Ms. Biron recognized on Wednesday. It’s so sad because it’s important to have a professional who can see us when we need [de soins] health, and having the right professional.

She says she is encouraged by the recent adoption of Bill 67 on access to primary health care. Psychologists, physiotherapists and pharmacists, to name just a few, will see their scope of practice expanded.

But it will not be a panacea. It will also be necessary to free up short-term time slots in family medicine groups (GMF), said Ms. Biron, echoing in a way the words of Minister Dubé who committed, by 2026, to giving GMF the responsibility of caring for patients whose doctors retire.

Regarding the use of the private health system, Christian Dubé sees it as complementary to the public system. A point of view shared by Geneviève Biron: it’s a bad play on words, but we can’t deprive ourselves of privacyshe said, nevertheless saying she was determined to develop a strong public network.

Determine and prioritize best practices in the network

The foundation of Minister Christian Dubé’s reform, Santé Québec’s mission is to coordinate daily operations in the network, leaving the Ministry of Health with the task of defining the main orientations. This is a golden opportunity to do things differentlydeclared Frédéric Abergel, vice-president of operations and transformation at Santé Québec, at the end of October.

The expectations of the population of Quebec are high, and those of Geneviève Biron too: I think we all come to the realization that we have to do things differentlyshe said.

We are giving ourselves the chance to be able to pool our ways of doing things, to be able to use a lever that we did not have in the past.

The establishments have become accustomed to working independently, she describes, and are a little competitive due to the fact that they compete for the same financial resources and draw from the same pool of staff. An insufficient pool, given the labor shortage.

Ms. Biron believes that it is necessary give a chance to this new reality which will take shape on December 1st.

I’m not saying that people should trust us blindly, we’ll have to prove ourselvesshe admits.