'You'll see': Quebec health minister promises bold proposals to solve critical nurse shortage
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube is promising a plan with bold and original ideas to try to attract thousands of nurses back to the public health network and prevent a breakdown of services.
On Friday, during a scrum with journalists in Lévis, Minister Dube reaffirmed his commitment to doing everything possible to offer nurses a more attractive work environment, different from what they’ve known until now, to convince them to return to the public system.
For years, nurses have complained about the widespread practice of demanding mandatory overtime, which regularly forces them to work exhausting double shifts.
The magnitude of the current crisis, with a shortage of over 4,000 nurses keeping the network from functioning normally, is now pushing the Legault government to pay closer attention to their grievances.
Minister Dube promised to announce new incentives next week, both financial and professional, that he believes will bring back nurses who have opted for early retirement in recent years or who have chosen to practice in the private sector.
He intends to be bold in the way he goes about it, he said.
“You'll see," said the minister.
"We're going to make announcements that might have surprised us a few months or a few years ago, but which will be prompted by the fact that we've looked at new ways of doing things with the pandemic."
While he waits for nurses' reaction to these soon-to-be-announced short-term incentives, Dube is also planning to implement a more long-term, global reorganization, he said, with "much more structural proposals on the table."
The day before, the minister had pledged to prevent any service disruptions in the health network, despite the significant shortage of personnel.
He's also contending with the likelihood the problem will worsen as of October 15, the date by which all health-care staff in Quebec will have to be double vaccinated against COVID-19 to stay on the job.
Those who don’t comply will be suspended without pay for an indefinite period. It’s a scenario that suggests the situation will become even more difficult to manage, as there are an estimated 20,000 unvaccinated employees in the network, at least half of whom provide direct patient care.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 17, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.