2023-08-22 04:02:00
Private companies such as ambulance services and clinics responsible for remedial surgeries will now have to prove that Quebecers really get their money’s worth.
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These new powers entrusted to the Auditor General will be part of some 150 amendments tabled Tuesday by Minister Christian Dubé as part of the study of Bill 15, our Parliamentary Office learned.
Last spring, Guylaine Leclerc had underlined in a parliamentary committee his difficulties in obtaining data from certain private companies financed more than 50% by the State, despite a provision of the law to this effect.
“In 2020, three ambulance companies did not comply with our requests for information. Their reasons were that the sums they had received from the government were not subsidies, but rather a purchase of services, ”she said, while saying that she disagreed with this interpretation.
However, the private ambulance services industry represents a public expenditure reaching nearly $360 million annually which escapes the watchdog of Quebecers, she pointed out.
Another major expense item, specialized medical centers will also have to show their credentials. Quebec entrusts these private clinics with a large number of publicly funded surgeries, particularly in the context of post-pandemic catch-up.
For example, the Chirurgie DIX30 clinic had received contracts worth $51 million in 2020, following the load shedding in hospitals.
Gag
The study of the bill to create Santé Québec resumed in the National Assembly on Monday.
From the outset, the Minister of Health opened the door to imposing a gag order if the debates drag on to adopt some 1,200 articles aimed at creating Santé Québec, a new agency responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the network.
“I understand that the oppositions, their strategy, often is to block. But what Quebecers are asking me is to have Health Quebec ready for next spring,” Christian Dubé told the parliamentary press.
titanic task
But for the united deputy Vincent Marissal, the study of the mammoth bill cannot be accelerated.
Although only 200 articles will require a real debate, the member for Rosemont pleads that all the impacts of all the modifications must be studied.
“Even the concordance articles, we are not going to adopt them in a bundle of 600 articles. It doesn’t work like that, because it affects a lot of other laws. […] An article can take three days and another article can take three minutes”, stresses Vincent Marissal.
With the resumption of work in the parliamentary committee, the opposition parties say they want to ensure that the minister will remain accountable in the reform of the health network, in addition to demanding accountability.
“We do not want Santé Québec, that agency, to serve as a screen for the ministry so that no one is responsible for health here, in Quebec, for its failings, and for the problems,” declared PQ MP Joël Arsenal.
For his part, the interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, said he feared that Health Quebec would allow the Legault government to shovel the problems in the court of the civil servants.
“We see it as an opportunity for the minister, for François Legault, to rid himself of responsibility and to say: ‘Well, you know, if there is a problem, go see Health Quebec, go see the megastructure, it’s those who are accountable to you. While no, the government was elected on its promises,” he commented.
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