Some Ste. Therese and Blainville residents who rely on home care from their health board have been told services will be reduced.
Marc Girard, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, relies on his local Health and Social Services Agency (Therese-de-Blainville CSSS) in paying for eight hours of cooking and cleaning a week.
Now he's been told those services will be cut back as part of a reorganization that is putting essential services first.
Girard says it takes a lot out of him to do a simple task.
"An activity per day is the maximum I can do. It's probably an hour, an hour and a half maximum," he said.
He was diagnosed with MS in 1998 and had to stop working four years later.
"It's like a roller coaster so you never know when it's going to be up or when it's going to be down," he said.
Without access to this extra help, Girard is worried about how his family will cope.
"I cannot do house cleaning, I cannot do meal preparation and I knew that the pressure was going to be on my wife," Girard said.
Sylvie Laganiere, with the health agency that oversees seven local boards in the Laurentians, says the re-organization is based on an ombudsman's report.
It called for "better and equal" access to home care services – that means putting essential services, like helping people bathe or feeding them, first.
The director of the Therese-de-Blainville CSSS, Andre Poirier, says each case is evaluated on an individual basis.
The demand for basic needs is greater – especially for those who live alone.
"We will gradually stop the cooking and cleaning services in favour of more hands-on help," said Poirier.
While Girard understands that others need help too he feels there should be resources for everyone, and has started a petition on this very issue.
"Find the money and give it back to the people that need those services," said Girard.
That petition will be tabled Thursday at the National Assembly.
