In an attempt to decrease emergency room wait times, the Quebec government has announced it will open three new super clinics on the north side of Montreal.
The clinics will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
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“As soon as they open, people will stop going to the emergency room and will start going to these clinics,” Health Minister Gaétan Barrette told reporters at the Saint-Laurent super clinic site.
Fifty clinics will be opened before the next provincial election.
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The services are available to people who don’t have family doctors or are unable to see their GPs.
Depending on their size, super clinics will get an extra $80-230,000 on top of staff salaries.
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There will also be various specialists on site.
The health minister explained the super clinics will initially be more expensive.
He added helping patients who don’t need to go to emergency rooms will save the overall health system millions of dollars.