The 811 telephone line will now be available to all parents in Quebec following an initial access given to Montrealers to obtain an appointment with a health professional for an emergency situation for a child.
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This line will be available from Wednesday everywhere in Quebec, following having experienced a first expansion in the Outaouais and the Laurentians, indicated the Minister of Health Christian Dubé, during a scrum at the Charles-Le Moyne hospital in Longueuil. .
Nearly 87 additional nurses have made themselves available to facilitate this province-wide rollout through the “I Contribute” platform.
“We would still take it, now that people know that the program will exceed December 31, added the minister. Each person who comes means more calls than we are able to take on 811 and reduce our waiting time.
This “One call, one service” measure was reinstated at the beginning of last November following the service line was shut down in April in order to allow better access to the first line.
This was one of the first solutions recommended by the crisis unit to reduce overflows in the emergency room in the short term.
In a month and a half, thousands of children have thus obtained a clinic appointment rather than going to the emergency room.
Several specialized nurse practitioner (SNP) clinics have also been opened recently to take the weight off emergency rooms, particularly in the greater Montreal area and in Saguenay.
“Yes it is difficult in emergencies at the moment, but we are able to reduce the impact of the three viruses a little,” said Mr. Dubé.
A “difficult holiday season”
The Minister of Health recalled that the holiday season will be difficult for emergencies in the province, due to the increase in contacts over the next few days.
“We have to lend a hand [au personnel soignant]because we know that there will be additional traffic following the holiday season,” he explained.
He thus encouraged Quebecers to respect the recommendations issued by public health in recent days.
Here are these 5 clinics:
- Notre Dame Hospital;
- Verdun CLSC;
- Chicoutimi Hospital;
- Laval (IPS clinic-school at the Faculty of Nursing Sciences of the University of Montreal);
- CLSC Olivier-Guimond
