2024-01-13 22:53:28
In Rivière-Rouge, in the Laurentians, hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday afternoon to denounce the announced closure of the emergency room between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. starting February 1.
• Read also: Lack of staff: an emergency in the Laurentians open only 12 hours a day
The CISSS des Laurentides made this announcement shortly before the holiday season, citing a lack of healthcare personnel.
A petition was launched to ask Quebec to act, which collected more than 5,000 signatures.
To reassure citizens, the CISSS affirms that it will not leave anyone behind, that patients who need it will be redirected to other hospitals in the region.
Despite everything, many citizens are worried.
“I had a stroke not long ago and if it had been in the evening, I would have had to go to Sainte-Agathe, or to Mont-Laurier, but it’s much too far, I would have dead!”, indignant a septuagenarian who had specifically chosen a residence with his partner because of its proximity to the hospital.
“It touches us to lose our emergency service,” he added with emotion.
A citizen also deplored the situation: “Our lives matter! It doesn’t matter, even if there are fewer people, our lives still matter!”
The mayor of Rivière-Rouge was also there on Saturday. He is concerned about vulnerable patients, particularly elderly patients, and fears that some citizens will not obtain the necessary care.
“People who will be forced to leave in the evening and then go towards Mont-Laurier, Mont-Tremblant […]what risks happening is that people will not want to be treated, who will wait,” fears Denis Lacasse, mayor of Rivière-Rouge.
Occupancy rates exceeded the maximum capacity of several emergencies on Saturday evening, both in Montreal, Laval and Montérégie.
However, the situation in the Laurentians is particularly difficult. On Saturday, the Mont-Laurier Hospital had an occupancy rate of 200%, while the Rivière-Rouge emergency room and the Saint-Eustache Hospital had 180% and 166% respectively.
Many patients had to spend 21 hours on a stretcher before being able to see a doctor.
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