MONTREAL - The Coalition for the Future of Quebec is proposing a seemingly simple solution for fixing health care in Quebec: more efficient management.
Francois Legault says there are enough general practitioners already working in Quebec for everyone to have access to a family doctor, but that how they schedule time with patients has to be changed.
He is proposing that the province's 8,200 GPs be forced to work in clinic-like practices, and that small groups could share 1,000 patients each.
The proposed clinic-practices would be open seven days a week, giving patients more time to see their doctor.
"If we want to have an efficient network we need to have groups of family doctors working together, having nurses helping them," said Legault.
Legault says the current administrative structure has too much middle management, and that Quebec has too many agencies layered between the Health Ministry and CLSCs.
"We cannot keep jobs in agencies only filling reports, only because we think we want to keep jobs," said Legault.
The Coalition leader has years of experience in business management.
He earned an MBA from HEC Montreal, and worked as a manager for Provigo and Nationair before becoming an auditor for Ernst & Young.
He also co-founded Air Transat, and served for several years as its CEO.
Legault rejecting merger with ADQ
Many critics think Legault is floating these proposals in advance of creating a provincial political party in 2012.
Meanwhile Legault is firmly rejecting the notion of a possible merger between the Coalition and the ADQ.
This past weekend rumours abounded about a possible merger, with ADQ leader Gerard Deltell saying his party was open to negotiations.
