During Wednesday’s meeting at McGill University provincial Health Minister Gaétan Barrette and like-minded doctors presented their case to health community leaders for integrating services between Central West, West Island CIUSS health organization and the MUHC.
Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg from the Central West CIUSS said all of McGill’s faculty of medicine and affiliated professionals should come together to improve services.
“The patients should be able to move freely within all institutions of his natural community rather than being shuttled about because these institutions have not integrated their information systems and their care delivery services,” Rosenberg said.
Among the proposed institutions for integration are the Lakeshore General Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, the Jewish General Hospital, the MUHC, and some CLSC clinics.
The co-chair of the MUHC patients committee, Amy Ma, said currently patients are not receiving the best possible care.
“Right now we are experiencing a poor continuity of care once someone is discharged from the hospital,” Ma said.
“For instance someone might have been in a car accident, they go to the hospital once things are patched up they go home but maybe they need a little bit of rehab along the way. Maybe they need home care along the way.”
“Those are ample opportunity for them to fall through the cracks, because they’re on wait list to get rehab, they’re on wait list receive home care. Maybe the wait list could be eliminated if we have a proper degree of integration.”
Barrette said the integration will not move forward unless all parties agree on a path to take and if a consensus is not formed the status quo will remain.