The Sante Quebec agency ‘at the starting line’ on Sunday

Geneviève Biron, President of Santé Québec, at an announcement in Quebec City on April 29, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

The Santé Québec agency officially takes effect on Sunday, becoming the sole employer of 330,000 workers in the healthcare network.

In an open letter sent to The Canadian Press and other media, Santé Québec President and CEO Geneviève Biron said she was “at the starting line of a long-distance race to transform our network and meet the growing needs of the population.”

She says that a “game plan” will be presented in the coming months for the transformation of the health network, which “will realistically take a few years.”

‘We want this transformation to be far-reaching and lasting, commensurate with the efforts made by the staff who have held the network together for so long. Not everything will be resolved tomorrow, but it is possible to do better,” Biron writes.

“By grouping the establishments into a single organisation, we are giving ourselves a cross-disciplinary vision that offers the possibility of optimising the network as a whole.

She believes that this can be achieved by increasing mobility, eliminating duplication of effort, and sharing tools and best practices, including research and teaching, even more effectively.

Some critics already

In anticipation of Santé Québec's launch, the Fédération de la Santé du Québec (FSQ-CSQ) and the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) had announced on Saturday an advertising campaign to air on television and radio.

The CSQ maintains that the amalgamation of healthcare establishments will have little impact on care and wishes to inform the public of this.

“What is having an impact at the moment are the cuts announced in public services. In healthcare alone, savings of $1.5 billion are expected,” said Luc Beauregard, secretary-treasurer of the CSQ Executive Council, in a press release.

“There is also a large-scale hiring freeze targeting jobs in direct services to the public. This affects nurses, respiratory therapists and nursing assistants in particular.”

On Friday, Health Minister Christian Dubé admitted that cutting $1.5 billion in health spending in the name of “budgetary rigour” would have an impact on services. However, he said he wanted to “minimize the impact.”

One of Santé Québec's first mandates is to return to a balanced budget, an exercise that is “non-negotiable,” Dubé maintained, in the context of Quebec facing a staggering $11 billion deficit.

Santé Québec was officially created on Dec. 9, 2023, when Bill 15, An Act to make the health and social services system more efficient, was passed.

In April, Dubé announced the appointment of Biron as head of Santé Québec for a three-year term.

Biron is the former president and CEO of Biron Groupe Santé, founded by her father, Denis Biron.

- With information from Caroline Plante

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 1, 2024.