Open letter to CSSS Pontiac

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I was sorry to hear about the decision to suspend access to the CLSC Fort-Coulonge / Mansfield Emergency Room during the nights of summer 2013 (your June 7 notice).

I was sorry to hear about the decision to suspend access to the CLSC Fort-Coulonge / Mansfield Emergency Room during the nights of summer 2013 (your June 7 notice).
I add my voice to those of the residents and municipalities of the area who are concerned by this decision, and I am confident that the CSSS Pontiac team will work hard to resume offering people all services as soon as possible. Quebec law on health and social services states that every person is entitled to choose the institution from which he or she wishes to receive health services, and I hear that a number of people choose the emergency room of the CLSC Pontiac.
I understand that the CSSS Pontiac is experiencing short-term difficulties, that there is currently a shortage of human resources, but I believe there is also a structural constraint. There is still a lack of doctors in the regions and the few specialized nurse practitioners available in Quebec do not meet the needs.
In the face of this structural constraint, my colleagues in Ottawa and myself want the federal government to provide incentives to recruit and train more health care professionals, especially doctors and nurses. Also, New Democrats want all Canadians to have universal access to high-quality public health care services that are transferable from one province and territory to another. It is the federal government’s responsibility to increase health transfers to the provinces.
The other tool we believe could help overcome structural constraints is the creation of a charter of patients’ rights. This initiative has two goals: first, to empower patients by granting them certain rights in their interactions with health care providers and institutions and, second, to base the relationship between the patient and the health care centre on a more equal and legal foundation.
By setting out what is expected of institutions and patients in such a Charter, we dare to believe that closed emergency rooms, as the one currently affecting the people who live around Fort-Coulonge, will become a thing of the past.
I invite my fellow citizens and all health-related organizations to work with us to reach these goals. I hope no one will suffer from this temporary closure.

Mathieu Ravignat, Pontiac MP
OTTAWA