The Montfort hospital in Ottawa is trying to deal with a drastic rise in the number of Quebec residents visiting its emergency department. Today, it began a public education campaign aimed at trying to reduce those numbers. Emergency room staff is handing out these pamphlets to Quebec visitors letting them know what services Montfort can offer and more importantly what it can't. The pamphlets, in English and French, are the first step in an education campaign trying to address a growing problem for all Ottawa area hospitals; how to deal with the rising number of Quebec residents seeking medical help outside their own province.
A quick glance at the parking lot at the Montfort hospital says it all. Of the four cars parked along one particular spot, three are from Quebec.
In fact one person in five now coming to the emergency department is a Quebec resident.
"We have put a lot of energy in terms of quality improvements to actually minimize the waiting period in our Emergency department,” says Dr. Bernard Leduc, the CEO of the Montfort, “I guess we are a victim of our own success.”
In the past five years, the number of visitors to Montfort’s Emergency Department has more than doubled. It is a situation that most of the hospitals in the Ottawa area are experiencing, but especially at the Montfort, where visitors know they can get services in French.
The hospital says if it doesn't address this issue, it could put pressure on own its capacity to deliver that care.
“If it continues to increase at the rate it has over the last five years, it is creating pressure in terms of our capacity to deliver and meet our targets in terms of wait times in emergency,” says Dr. Leduc.
So, starting today, Emergency room staff is handing out pamphlets to Quebec patients, telling them they are welcome to come to the hospital for any emergency as long as it is for acute care only.
"But anything that deals with continuity of care, referral to specialists,” explains Dr. Leduc, “is something we can't provide.”
Montfort is a fully bilingual hospital and a short drive across the river from Quebec where there has been a critical shortage of medical services for years.
“Just last January, I was at the Gatineau hospital at emergency,” says Quebec resident Gessie Clemont, “and we waited twenty-five and a half hours. I am not kidding; twenty-five and a half hours . So it is critical in our region.”
Quebec resident Gisele Fortin adds, “Ithink the system in Quebec is too bad, there's no service for anyone whatsoever.”
And so, many Quebeckers are using the Montfort Emergency department as a walk-in clinic. The Montfort says they really need to visit their family doctor first and come here only for true emergencies.
