MUHC to cut ambulance services, walk-ins in partial closure of ER at Lachine Hospital

Montreal -

Ambulances will soon be redirected away from the Lachine Hospital emergency rooms as staff shortages force management to reduce services.

As of Nov. 7, the hospital will no longer accept patients arriving by ambulance, except under specific situations involving heart attacks and respiratory emergencies.

What’s more, the hospital in Montreal’s west end will only accept walk-in patients between 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Henryk Usakowski lost both of his parents at the Lachine Hospital, where he spent much of his time. Like many locals, he was disappointed to hear about the changes.

"It was such a vital part of our lives. I spent six months here, every day, three times a day… and now they're closing it down just like that," he said.

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), which runs the hospital, announced the changes on Friday amid a serious lack of hospital workers, especially among nurses and respiratory staff.

The hospital receives about 40 patients per day, most of whome arrive between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

To maintain regular services, the hospital should have about 52 nurses on staff. At the moment, there are 29.

The shortages are more severe among respiratory therapists. There are just nine working to provide care to the entire hospital, out of the 27 required.

The hospital says medical and surgical beds remain available, and outpatient clinics and labs will still operate.

Regular services at CHSLD Camille-Lefebvre will continue.

In a letter to express her outrage at service cuts at the hospital, Lachine borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic urged Health and Social Services Minister Christian Dubé to intervene.

"Lachine Hospital is the only francophone hospital in the west of Montreal. It is an aging population in a vulnerable situation," she wrote in her letter on Wednesday.

"We are fully aware of the extremely difficult situation for our health care workers and we fully support them."

The MUHC says the closure is temporary, as it's trying to recruit more staff.

"I expect it to be weeks and not many, many months. I would expect it to revert to normal at the latest at the beginning of the year, January," said MUHC president, Dr. Pierre Gfeller.