Nurses sleeping at Montreal-area hospital if they work two 16-hour shifts
Private agency nurses who are desperately needed to fill shifts at a hospital near Montreal are sleeping at the hospital between two 16-hour shifts because they live far away and the hospital can't recruit nurses who live in the area.
Local health authorities also help pay for the mileage of any out-of-region nurses.
It's not a new problem in the West-Monteregie region, the local health board said.
In the summer of 2022, it resorted to offering nurses free accommodation under certain conditions if they agreed to take on shifts at Hopital du Suroit in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, when the impact of COVID-19 on staffing was still acute.
"The placement agencies we work with through the Centre d'acquisition gouvernementale were unable to meet our needs in terms of nursing staff," the West-Monteregie health board explained in an email.
To fill the huge gaps in staffing, incentives were created for private nurses and public sector nurses to help persuade them to agree to travel and also agree to work two double shifts of 16 hours in a row.
They include having their mileage repaid at a rate of $0.54/km if the nurses live more than 50 kilometres away from the hospital and free accommodation in hospital rooms set aside for this purpose.
"This does not change the hospitalization capacity," the West-Monteregie health board emphasized.
The interim president of the FIQ Monteregie-West union that represents nurses in the region said the health board is doing what it has to do to provide health care services to the population.
"It's the lesser evil. Anyone who works 16 hours in a row needs rest," said Maxime Laforge-Steben in an interview. But he said it's a symptom of a much deeper problem in the healthcare system, a problem he lays at the feet of the Quebec government.
"For us, the solution is to improve the quality of the working conditions quickly, and the salaries and that's why negotiations (with the government) are underway."
"The private nurses that do the 16 hours have a better salary than those in the public system," he said.
Fewer than 50 nurses have taken advantage of the incentives, the health board reported, but every extra nurse helps, it said.
Closing a unit in Suroit means the loss of 32 hospital beds, which affects patient care and creates critical overcrowding in the emergency room.
The challenges recruiting nurse, public or private are blamed in part on the remote locations of the hospitals located southwest of Montreal, including Hopital Barrie-Memorial in Ormstown.
"Attractiveness remains a major challenge. Many regions of Quebec share this challenge," the health board said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.