Lachine Hospital doctor, patients head to court to save gynecology clinic

A physician and patients at Lachine Hospital will learn this week if their gynecology clinic will be saved from closure.

After learning the Montreal University Health Centre (MUHC) planned to shut down the department as of April, they sought a temporary injunction to keep it open.

“This is heartlessness,” said Dr. Paul Saba, the president of the hospital’s council of physicians. “This is totally unacceptable. We will continue the fight, no matter what the outcome.”

READ MORE: Healthcare workers, patients file injunction to save gynecology clinic at Lachine Hospital

A Quebec Superior Court judge is expected to issue his ruling on Tuesday. If the injunction is granted, Saba says he hopes the MUHC will reconsider its decision and reopen the clinic.

Under the plan, the MUHC is referring all gynecology patients to the neighbouring hospital in LaSalle. The plaintiffs argue the decision to shuffle patients will hurt healthcare services for almost 2,000 patients.

At the Lachine Hospital, about 700 consultations are performed annually by gynecologists.

READ MORE: Physicians consider legal action to save gynecology clinic at Lachine Hospital

Saba pointed to how women in precarious financial situations depend on the hospital and the doctors they have built relationships with over the past 15 years.

“We are talking about people lives. Let’s care for people,” he said. “Let’s get back to what medicine’s all about: caring for people, doing the best for our patients and not getting into a bureaucratic ‘Let’s win this at all costs.'”

In court on Monday, the plaintiffs’ lawyer argued that very little information was provided to patients or the specialists about the closure and transferring of files to LaSalle.

The legal counsel representing the MUHC, however, said that isn’t the case — and that LaSalle Hospital is ready to receive new patients.

WATCH: Gynecology clinic set to close on April 1

1:58 Lachine Hospital cuts gynecological services

Chantal Couture said she contacted LaSalle Hospital in March after learning her clinic would close. She said she wasn’t able to book an appointment.

“They told me it’s not an emergency,” she said. “So they told me they couldn’t give me an appointment at this point.”

A ruling is expected to be issued on Tuesday afternoon in Quebec Superior Court.

— With files from Global News’ Tim Sargeant and The Canadian Press