Dozens of patients have been informed that the Gynecology Clinic at Lachine Hospital will be closing on April 1st.
A note posted on the door of the clinic directs patents to find a gynecologist at LaSalle Hospital, which is part of the CIUSSS West Island.
Dr. Paul Saba, who chairs the Council of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists at Lachine Hospital, is convinced that the LaSalle Hospital does not have sufficient resources to accommodate new patients.
"It's clear to me that this is a cost-savings measure. They say no, they say that Lachine needs to focus just on urology, but we do lots of specialized services including Ear, Nose, and Throat, Plastics, Rheumatology, Psychiatry, which a community hospital like our hospital needs to provide for the population because they're just not accessible services elsewhere," said Dr. Saba.
In an e-mail sent to a newspaper, MUHC Communications Officer Gary Francoeur said that Lachine Hospital is shifting to provide more care for men, while LaSalle Hospital will provide more female-specific care.
Each year, gynecologists at Lachine Hospital have had 700 consultations with patients.
Patients have already written to the MUHC management to ask them to reconsider the decision.
Last June the Quebec government allocated $95 million to Lachine Hospital for the construction of a new building that will house the emergency, intensive care, day surgery and palliative care units. Work is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2020 and completion is scheduled for spring 2023.
