Members of the MUHC patients’ committee are saying enough is enough.
They say patients are caught in the middle of political bickering between Health Minister Gaetan Barrette and the McGill University Hospital Centre over funding.
“We as the patients feel we're being taken hostage through all this,” said Amy Ma, co-chair of the patients’ committee, in the group’s first-even news conference.
They claim it is affecting patient care and needs to stop.
“We put up a fight to stand up for all the good things that the MUHC has brought into our lives and caring for our loved ones,” she said, adding that cuts to funding and staff are hurting patients.
They say the list of complaints is growing, including:
- Delays in access to care
- Overcrowded ER
- Limited or no acess to hospital facilities for patients who are low mobility
- Lack of patient consultation in creating policy
They say the wait times for tests and surgeries could endanger lives.
“The lung cancer patient was diagnosed at Stage 1 but by the time his or her number came up for the operation it had become Stage 3 inoperable,” Ma said.
MUHC patient Mona Arsenault said she is frustrated by lack of accessibility at the Glen site.
“Even the front door of the hospital, the button is not good enough to get into,” for low mobility patients, she said.
They also say a lack of funds has caused some cancer and chronic care programs to be cut.
“That's, I think, really unfair,” said patient Falk Kyser. “That's where I'm extraordinarily frustrated and even angry to a point.”
Some said they feel ignored by the province.
“Believe you me, 18 months from now when we go to the polls, we are going to remember this,” said Ma.
Barrette maintains there's no conflict with the MUHC, just misinformation about how hospitals in Quebec are funded.
“We are in a positive relationship, but we have to have the same understanding of the reality and some people do not have that,” he said, adding that he is willing to sit down with the patients group.
