Nurses stage sit-in at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital; public urged to avoid going to the ER

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital is seen in Montreal on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Several nurses at Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital staged a sit-in Monday night and are threatening to quit, forcing the hospital to urge residents to avoid going to the emergency room overnight.

Around 100 nurses signed a petition earlier in the day calling for the immediate resignation of their manager, who is accused of imposing unreasonable mandatory overtime requirements, Noovo Info reported.

They threatened to walk off the job en masse by Wednesday if their demands aren't met.  

A statement issued Monday night by the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, the regional health board, urged the public to avoid going to the ER between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. Tuesday due to the "exceptional situation."

"Ambulatory patients will not be able to be managed overnight. The remaining ambulances will be redirected during the closure period to other facilities in the Greater Montreal area," the statement said, adding that current patients and patients admitted by ambulance in unstable conditions will continue to receive care. 

The regional health board said it would reassess the situation Tuesday.

In the meantime, the CIUSSS recommended people with non-urgent medical conditions to consult their family doctor or pharmacist, a doctor in a walk-in clinic or contact the Info-Santé line at 811.

The nurses complained about cases where their shift is over but are required to stay longer until a replacement comes in, often with little to no advance warning. 

Their union representative at the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, Denis Cloutier, said that the threat to resign comes from them, and not from union councils. 

HEALTH MINISTER MEETS CIUSSS

Vincent Marissal, the Liberal MNA for Rosemont, reacted to the sit-in on Twitter, writing that Health Minister Christian Dubé should intervene to settle the dispute. 

Another opposition MNA, André Fortin, weighed into the hospital chaos. The Liberal health critic said on Twitter, "Why didn't you act proactively when the nurses were crying out?" in reference to the health minister. 

Dubé said on Twitter that he met with the head of the regional health board Monday evening to discuss the situation, which he described as "untenable."

"Our priority is to ensure the safety of all patients. That's why the difficult decision was made to limit activity in the ER for tonight. We will provide an update on the situation tomorrow."

This is a developing story that will be updated.