Francis Vachon Le Devoir A wing of the Levis seniors’ home, May 4, 2023
The Ministry of Health awarded a $109,000 contract to an external consultant to ensure “the coordination and monitoring of the ministerial action plan” aimed at opening the 46 nursing homes. seniors promised by the Legault government.
The contract, published at the very beginning of the year, was concluded by mutual agreement with a former manager of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Sophie Barsetti. It ends “according to the first term reached among the following, i.e. reaching the maximum amount provided for in the contract or December 31, 2024”, specified the ministry at: Devoir.
Ms. Barsetti “collaborates” in particular “in the coordination and monitoring of the ministerial action plan allowing the opening of 46 MDA MA [seniors’ homes and alternative homes] in Quebec,” continued the door -spokeswoman of the ministry, Marie-Pier Blier. Le Devoir reported last week on delivery delays in these accommodation resources, almost all of which still have empty rooms.
Asked why the ministry did not entrust this task internally, Ms. Blier replied that “the ministry ensures that it seeks out specific expertise complementary to that held by ministerial staff.” The goal ? “To successfully complete all project deliverables and ensure knowledge transfer within the ministerial teams dedicated to the project. »
Ms. Barsetti was employed by the CIUSSS de la Capitale Nationale from 2021 to 2023. She was also, among other things, director of customer experience at the Champlain Group, a private corporation under agreement which offers accommodation and long-term care services for people losing their autonomy.
Under the terms of the contract it obtained, its mission will include “realizing and deploying a sustainability plan to ensure the continuity of the implementation of clinical concepts specific to [seniors' homes] once the homes are in operation,” Ms. Blier wrote. The contract she obtained is, according to the ministry, “a continuation” of her collaboration with her former employer, the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale. Ms. Barsetti will therefore be able to “take advantage of her great expertise in order to continue her involvement with the ministerial team,” underlined Ms. Blier.
Houses full… of transferred residents
Le Devoir has also obtained details regarding the only two seniors' homes — out of a total of 17 — which are operating at full capacity .
The seniors’ home in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, in the Laurentians, is one of two homes that are full. Currently, 41 of its 48 accommodation spaces are occupied by residents “who come from the CHSLD de Mont-Tremblant,” wrote the communications advisor of the CISSS des Laurentides, Valérie Maynard, in an email. “The estimated date of reopening of this CHSLD is planned for fall 2025,” she added.
As Le Devoir wrote in May, several regions use seniors' homes to accommodate residents of CHSLDs undergoing renovation, due to lack of capacity install new residents.
The other seniors' home that does not have an empty room is that of Parc-à-la-Montagne, in the Hull sector of the City of Gatineau. “All residents transferred from CHSLD Lionel-Émond to MDAA will remain at MDAA. There is no temporary accommodation. They are all there permanently and not for a fixed period,” spokesperson Qeren Boua responded on this subject.
As of late Thursday, she had not responded to follow-up questions submitted by Le Devoir as of Tuesday. According to our information, the movement of residents from the CHSLD Lionel-Émond to the seniors' home did not free up new places in long-term accommodation. The old rooms will, after renovations, be used more for short-term accommodation for people in rehabilitation.
With Marie-Ève Cousineau