Five more Quebec hospitals to offer at-home care services

A person receives care at home. (Ivan Samkov/pexels.com)

Over the next few months, Quebec is expected to roll out home care services in five hospitals as part of a measure to allow patients to receive treatment at home while under the supervision of a medical team.

Quebec's minister responsible for seniors, Sonia Bélanger, announced on Tuesday that the hospitals taking part include Pierre-Boucher Hospital in Longueuil, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Lévis, the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), Anna-Laberge Hospital in Châteauguay and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

They will join eight other establishments in the Greater Montreal and Quebec City areas that were announced to be participating in the program last year.

Four hospitals currently offer the service: Pointe-Claire's Lakeshore General Hospital, Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, Laval's Cité-de-la-Santé and Longueuil's Charles-Le Moyne Hospital.

An additional four are expected to do so by the end of the year.

This includes Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and the Laurentians' Sainte-Agathe Hospital, which are expected to start offering the service this summer.

Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus in Quebec City and Hôpital Pierre-Le Gardeur in Terrebonne are slated to roll out the program this fall.

Officials note that home care is voluntary and only offered to patients whose conditions allow it and who have the necessary support at home.

Medical staff can then monitor patient progress remotely through connected devices.

Typically, a patient will be given an iPad linked wirelessly to sensors measuring blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar and other indicators.

The hope is to reduce the length of hospital stays, as well as the risks associated with being in a medical setting long-term.

During the 2022 election campaign, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) pledged to initiate home care programs throughout the province by 2026.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 23, 2024.