Healthcare cuts hit Outaouais: Pontiac braces for impact
Mélissa Gélinas
Local Journalism Initiative
Published January 29, 2025.
OUTAOUAIS – Following the government’s announcement of $90 million in budget cuts
for the CISSS de l’Outaouais (CISSSO), the region is forced to find ways to adjust to the new reality.
“It’s certain the cuts will have an impact on everyone,” said Karine D’Auteuil, president of the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins de l’Outaouais. “In the Pontiac, the number of employees will need to be reduced and not replaced. There will be less people working, which will have a fairly rapid impact on the care of the population. Management is out of touch with reality thinking this can be done while providing the same level of service.”
More than 200 temporary assignments will be eliminated throughout the Outaouais. “It’s not positions, it’s assignments, which are very different,” said Mathieu Marsolais, Director of Communications and Partner Relations at CISSSO. “An assignment happens when a position becomes vacant and it’s absolutely necessary to fill, then a replacement is assigned to that position,” he explained.
According to Marsolais, the goal is to reposition staff within the organization as much as possible. “We won’t be able to replace everyone, but with the number of vacancies we have, we’re optimistic the majority will find a job within the organization,” he said.
However, according to information gathered, no assignment cuts were reported for the Pontiac. This doesn’t guarantee there will be no impact. “When we cut, regardless of the position, it automatically has an impact on us,” explained D’Auteuil. “If we don’t replace a patient attendant or an administrative officer, it’s the nurse or the respiratory therapist who is overworked, having to compensate for the non-replacement and cuts in other positions,” she concluded.
