Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “Is this the ideal time that I would have liked Santé Québec to have, with the difficulties, the budgetary rigour, etc. ? It's really not ideal,” conceded Christian Dubé.
Health Minister Christian Dubé intends to “minimize” the impacts of “budgetary rigour” on Quebec's health services.
“We are looking at everything to be sure that there will be budgetary rigour and that we will be able to minimize — and I say it, the right word is 'minimize' — the impact on our services,” he declared in a press scrum Friday.
The new state-owned company Santé Québec, which is set to take control of the health network on December 1, is facing a deficit of $1.5 billion “if nothing is done.” At mid-year, the accumulated deficit is already $1 billion, Santé Québec reported on the Bluesky social network. The budgetary context is a concern for all the network’s top bosses, on the eve of Santé Québec’s arrival as a single employer.
As we have committed, we want to communicate transparently the state of the finances of the health and social services network. Several figures are circulating publicly and it is important to us that the population has a clear picture of the current situation in the network.
[image or embed]
— Santé Québec (@santequebec.bsky.social) November 22, 2024 at 2:35 p.m.
“Is this the ideal time that I would have liked Santé Québec to arrive at, with the difficulties, the budgetary rigour, etc. ? It’s really not ideal,” Mr. Dubé admitted to reporters. “Did I think, […] two years ago, that Santé Québec would arrive today in the difficult context that we have? The answer is no.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000On Thursday, the minister said that health institutions would have to find ways to curb their deficits. “It’s non-negotiable,” he said, in a context where Quebec is facing an $11-billion deficit.
Mr. Dubé said he had demanded that Santé Québec monitor the health budget more rigorously, which is expected to exceed $60 billion in the current year. Until now, there was a four-month delay before managers could have an overview of the finances of the CISSSs and CIUSSSs. “That's not budgetary rigour,” he insisted.
Read also
- The positions eliminated in health are not layoffs, insists Dubé
- Handing over the reins of the health mammoth
- A look at the heart of Santé Québec
More control over money sent to doctors
Minister Christian Dubé also said he wanted to have a say in how doctors’ federations spend the amounts they receive from the government.
“Right now, I think we have control over about 5% of the envelope. That's ridiculous. Should we have control over 30-40% of the envelope? ? I think that's what we're talking about,” said Mr. Dubé. “We want to have more control over the envelopes so that, for example, certain specialties are better paid and we take money from other specialties that are probably overpaid.”
The minister said that $3.5 billion was allocated annually to general practitioners and family medicine groups. “Specialists are $5 billion, a little more,” he added.
Mr. Dubé lambasted the approach of the medical federations, which are currently in negotiations with Quebec. “I know that doctors, in general, work very hard. I have much more [against] the union federations, and I am not afraid to call it that. There is a lot of resistance,” he said.
In response, the Fédération des médecins spécialisé du Québec (FMSQ) published a photo of its president, Vincent Oliva, in the middle of surgery. “We don't have time to respond to the Minister of Health's comments: we have more important things to do,” wrote the federation.
We don't have time to respond to the Minister of Health's comments: we have more important things to do.
(Dr. Vincent Oliva, president of the FMSQ, currently in the operating room at the CHUM) pic.twitter.com/9KsKuOfadX— FMSQ (@FMSQ) November 29, 2024
The minister acknowledged that Santé Québec is not sitting at the negotiating tables. “I’m not even at the table, and that doesn’t stop me from knowing exactly what’s going on at the table,” he nevertheless stressed. Like him, Santé Québec is kept informed of the discussions in progress, he assured.
In the future, however, the Crown corporation could be represented during the negotiations. “Could it one day be possible to do it differently?? The answer is yes,” said the elected official.