Quebec Hospital ERs Are Clogged To Sh*t So The Gov't Is Bringing In Bureaucrat Bouncers
New teams to make sure you get what you need and leave.
Ambulance.
Quebec is facing an overcrowding crisis in its ERs. Outbreaks of the flu and RSV, coupled with the continuing circulation of COVID-19, threaten to make the situation in Quebec hospital emergency departments even worse.
In recent weeks, a Health Ministry crisis unit has put in place measures aimed at driving Quebecers away from ERs and towards alternative services. Now, officials are taking a step to free up space in emergency departments, themselves: new hospital teams whose job it is to make sure people who don't need to be there get out as quickly as possible.
The new "hospital flow teams" (équipes de fluidité) will have three mandates, according to the ministry: to make sure that people who don't need to be in the hospital anymore are discharged, to make sure people who need to see a specialist get a timely appointment so they don't need to occupy an ER bed, and to make sure people that actually need ER beds get them.
The strategies already in the works to move people away from ERs include three new Montreal clinics run by nurse practitioners and new 811 resources for pediatric calls.
The government is also now officially asking Quebecers to mask in crowded public places again to prevent the spread of that trio of viral diseases, which Dubé said has made the health care system particularly "fragile."
"Several efforts are being made to reduce the pressure in the emergency department at this time, but the increased transmission of [these] viruses complicates the situation," the health minister said in a press release.
"As recommended by Public Health, wearing a mask in public places and in the presence of vulnerable people is a simple and essential gesture that will reduce transmission and support our efforts."