“Each establishment has its own reality. It is not true that the same solutions work everywhere in Quebec. » This is what the executive vice-president of Santé Québec, Frédéric Abergel, mentioned at a press briefing on January 10.
“What we really want is to support establishments so that they themselves see their own problems and implement their own solutions,” he added during the question period. media as the organization took stock of the emergency situation in Quebec.
Mr. Abergel remains realistic since Santé Québec has been at the head of the health and social services network for only 41 days. “It’s ongoing work, it’s going to take some time for everyone to get on board with this,” he says, adding that the team wants to “understand what’s going on.” in each establishment.
The executive vice-president of operations and transformation is clear: different actions will have to be taken in large and small hospitals. “We want to distinguish these two realities to be more adapted to their situation,” he assures.
The manager has also visited health establishments in other regions of Quebec than Montreal in recent months. He has already noticed that the issues are not the same, particularly in terms of the presence of staff in the emergency room.
“In large centers, the volume of activity means that we can still have enough staff, but in the smaller centers, there is little volume of activity, but we still have to be present 24 /7 in emergency rooms,” relates Mr. Abergel.
According to the latter, problems arise from this situation in smaller hospitals. “How do we support these establishments differently? Could, for example, we have more versatile staff who could be in the emergency room, but also in other sectors at the same time if there are fewer patients who come to visit? » he asks himself.
The vice-president also wishes to refer to other countries which could experience the same differences in reality between urban centers and more remote regions. “We don’t have a solution yet. But it is certain that we must ensure that we offer the service to the population,” concludes Frédéric Abergel.
Hospitals under pressure
Since December 28, hospitals have been under pressure, says Santé Québec in a press briefing. Stretcher occupancy rates are similar to last year, but higher than previous years, from November 1 to the end of January. For the holiday season, the rate is 7% lower than last year and barely lower than two years ago.
The average length of stay on stretchers is lower than in the last two years. For the period beginning December 28, the duration decreased by 1.3 hours compared to last year and two years ago.
“It’s still an improvement for us at that level. Overall, the situation has improved a lot compared to last year even if we still have a lot of challenges,” declares Frédéric Abergel.
According to the latter, influenza activity remains moderate so the trend could be upward in the coming weeks.
