2023-08-11 19:30:00
A private firm is paid $220,000 to manage the opening of three seniors’ homes in Montérégie, since no competent employee was available to do so in the public network.
• Read also: Quebec hires a private firm to manage the opening of seniors’ homes, for lack of competent managers in the public network
The Montérégie-Est Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) has awarded two over-the-counter contracts totaling $220,000 to the private firm CIM Conseil, we read on the government’s tender site. of Quebec (SEAO).
The first contract for $50,000 was awarded on May 17, and a second for $170,000 to hire a “project manager” followed on July 25.
The two contracts aim to coordinate the commissioning of three seniors’ homes on the territory by the summer of 2024 (Beloeil, Saint-Amable, Longueuil).
An emergency”
To justify the hiring of a “project manager” in the private sector, the CISSS invoked an “emergency” since the employee who was responsible for the project internally had left his position.
“We would not have hesitated to entrust this mandate to our project management team […]but these members are already mobilized on other major projects of our establishment”, writes by email Caroline Doucet, the spokesperson for the CISSS.
“With the price that it costs for the health system, we should expect that the managers come from the public service since it is already there and is supposed to be an expert, reacts Jean-Claude Bernatchez, professor in relations of work at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières. The skill is there, that’s obvious.”
The CIM project manager’s responsibilities include coordinating activities with the construction team, planning technical commissioning, and managing strategic risks, the document says.
The state takes responsibility
According to Mr. Bernatchez, this specific case illustrates the disempowerment of the state in the management of public services.
“It’s a door that can carry pernicious consequences,” he said. With the phenomenon of the aging of the population, it is not something that can be delegated, it is part of the essential for society.
Flagship project of the government of François Legault, seniors’ homes are expensive to build, up to more than a million dollars per room in the region. So far, four are active out of the 46 announced. A total of 3,000 places will be created.
The company CIM Conseil hires several managers specialized in the health network and manages various mandates in several hospitals in Quebec.
The four houses for seniors in operation:
- Sherbrooke, 48 residents;
- Rivière-du-Loup, 96 residents;
- Lévis, 72 residents;
- Thetford Mines, 24 residents;
- 13 other seniors’ homes have been delivered, but are not yet welcoming residents.
Source: MSSS
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