(Quebec) Christian Dubé will authorize the opening of surgery centers awaiting permits, with the exception of aesthetic clinics, if their activities make it possible to tackle waiting lists. The Minister of Health admits that he lacked clarity in his directives after his ministry sent several notices of intent to refuse a permit.
Minister Christian Dubé explained on Tuesday that he had “perhaps not been clear enough” with the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS), which at the start of the year sent about fifteen notices of intention to refuse permits to private surgery centres.
“I will keep it simple: I wanted us to limit private clinics if they were not in our objectives. […] We cannot afford to lose staff, nurses, for aesthetic clinics, ”illustrated the Minister of Health on his arrival at the parliamentary committee in Quebec.
On the other hand, if they make it possible to reduce the lists in the specialties where there is a long wait, these clinics should receive the green light from the ministry, indicated Mr. Dubé. “I was surprised that clinics that were to open and that were to help us with our waiting lists did not have their permit, so we clarified [la situation] in the last days,” he said.
The Press reported Tuesday that the Westmount Surgical Institute, a multidisciplinary surgical center, has been waiting for its permit for 18 months. The clinic is one of those that received a notice of intent to refuse in January.
However, the brand new infrastructures will allow the practice of several types of day operations covered by the RAMQ, such as orthopedic, urology, ENT and ophthalmology procedures. These are also four of the five specialties where the number of patients waiting for an operation is the highest, according to the MSSS dashboard.
Although the final decision rests with the Minister, Christian Dubé explained that a committee of the MSSS where the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ) is also present must issue a recommendation. Mr. Dubé added that he does not know “where this kind of imbroglio fell” between his intentions and the notices sent.
I ain’t here to blame nobody, but I said [au ministère] to clarify. If it’s to speed up our waiting lists and they aren’t cosmetic clinics, we’ll open them.
Christian Dubé, Minister of Health
The files of all the clinics that have received a negative notice of intent will be reviewed in the coming weeks. Christian Dubé also intervened last February to unblock a surgery center project in Saint-Jérôme. In this case, construction work had to be suspended due to permit delays.
Various reasons can be mentioned in the event of refusal to grant a permit, such as the availability of resources, the “complementarity of the offer” in the sector or the vocation desired by the clinic.