By Michael Boriero – Local Journalism Initiative
President and General Director of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS Dr. Stéphane Tremblay presented the local health authority’s annual management report for 2020-2021 last week.
Prior to diving into the report, Tremblay, who appeared on a Facebook Live event, took a moment to recognize the efforts made by all healthcare personnel during the past year marred by a pandemic and continuous adjustments to the provincial health and safety guidelines.
Tremblay then discussed the report, which highlighted challenges and successes from the past year, drawing on information and data up until March 31, 2021. The CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS serves nearly 500,000 people in the Eastern Townships, he explained.
There are 20,500 employees and administrators, as well as 1,300 doctors and pharmacists in the region. He also noted that there are 1,100 volunteers, 2,100 beds in CHSLDs, and 1,100 beds in hospitals and rehabilitation centres.
Tremblay explained that one of the biggest issues this year was youth services, for toddlers, teenagers and supporting the family nucleus. They faced perilous COVID-19 outbreaks, however, he added that his team was able to contain and support them.
According to Tremblay, despite an influx of patients in emergency rooms across the Eastern Townships due to the pandemic, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS was able to handle the situation. They needed to adjust like everyone else to the threat of COVID-19.
“We can say that the services in our emergency rooms were relatively maintained and stable, despite the transformation of our emergency rooms into hot or cold rooms depending on the clients that presented themselves,” said Tremblay.
He noted that they wait-time to see a doctor was 47 minutes less than the last annual report — 158 minutes in 2021, compared to 205 minutes in 2020. However, the stretcher stay time in an emergency increased slightly from 12.7 hours to 13 hours in 2021.
Tremblay also touched on the surgery delays that have affected many Quebecers throughout the pandemic. The CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS was hit by a major slow down of services, he said, and a lot of it has been due to the worker shortage, which has affected most sectors.
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