MONTREAL -- The agreement in principle Quebec concluded with the province's health-care professionals federation (FIQ) will "change the face" of the health network for the next few years, said Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel.
The minister said Wednesday at a news briefing that the second agreement in principle which concluded on Tuesday between Quebec and the Interprofessional Health Federation, which represents 76,000 nurses, nursing assistants and others.
The first agreement in principle, concluded on Nov. 23, was rejected by the FIQ delegates a few hours later the same day.
The second agreement was ratified with 82 per cent of the federation agreeing on Tuesday.
"I am so happy of the agreement we have with the nurses," said Premier Francois Legault in a news conference Wednesday. "We have in Quebec, nurses who are at the front lines, so for over nine months now they have been working really hard everywhere in the health network. It's difficult for them, they really are our heroes for 2020."
The agreement provides for the addition of 1,500 full-time positions, said LeBel.
It also includes a decrease in nurse-patient ratios in CHSLDs, the FIQ highlighted.
The government will also issue a directive to reduce the use of private nurse placement agencies, LeBel noted.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2020.
