Dubé wants to rethink the role of CLSCs

Photo: Olivier Zuida Archives Le Devoir The CLSC network was developed during the 1970s.

Isabelle Porter in Quebec

Posted at 4:11 p.m.

• Quebec

The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, wishes to “redefine” the mission of CLSCs. On Tuesday, he suggested that emphasis could be placed on walk-in services. And added that in certain neighborhoods of Montreal, “it is more difficult to reach people for language reasons”, and that the CLSCs could meet their needs with this new orientation.

The MP for Marie-Victorin, Shirley Dorismond, a former nurse who worked in this network, will also begin a tour of CLSCs in Quebec shortly with the aim of fueling this reflection, a- he said during the study of his ministry's appropriations on Tuesday.

“With the arrival of the GMFs [the family medicine groups], the CLSCs were left aside,” agreed Christian Dubé, who said he wanted to restore their “letter of nobility” to them.< /p>

One thing is certain, he said, CLSCs are ideally suited to handle home care and mental health cases. The minister also noted that in certain regions, CLSCs are the place to which the population turns to deal with a wide range of problems, a role more assumed by GMFs in large cities.

The CLSC network was developed during the 1970s; there are more than 300 in Quebec.

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