January 15, 2018

After seeing one of its members take a public stand by quitting their job with a bang at the CISSS-AT, the FIQ-SISSAT would like to send a serious warning to ministers Barrette and Blanchette and other members of the institution’s management who are not taking the current crisis among healthcare professionals in the region seriously enough.

After conducting a survey among its members, the union says it is alarmed to find that the majority them are thinking of leaving the profession for the short or long-term if the practice conditions and work atmosphere do not improve. “60% of our members are thinking of leaving the CISSS-AT organization. We believe that this is due to the fact that 98% of members said in their survey responses that they watched as their work conditions and the quality of care not only didn’t improve but got worse since the regional institution was created. There is a real reason why we came forward to break the silence and protest the organizational violence we face. Members aren’t fed up, they are in distress! Listen to them!” urged Carole Gendron, FIQ-SISSAT President.

A political argument that isn’t too concerned with facts or the clinic

It’s worrisome that the senior management of the CISSS admits that it didn’t compile data or reports of situations by mistreated healthcare professionals. What’s worse is that the CEO downplayed the severity of the situation before several tribunes by providing figures that were known to be erroneous by Human Resources or not backed by their financial statements. For example: according to senior management, there is a shortage of 50 nurses at the CISSS-AT, yet, according to Human Resources, there is no data to support that number. The CEO also said that overtime would account for 1% of the payroll and yet documents sent to the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux show that it’s actually closer to 4% (CISSS-AT payroll for 2016: $278,550,196), which is four times higher and constitutes an eight million dollar gap between what was said and the actual figure. “Despite all of the discrepancies between what management said and the facts, we are putting a lot of hope in a long overdue meeting with Mr. Desjardins. We believe that only he or the Minister can remedy the situation. Judging by their rhetoric, the solution is clearly political,” said the unionist.

In conclusion, the FIQ-SISSAT would like to say that he hopes the hemorrhaging stops. Indeed, the amount of resignations does seem to have increased recently. “Several members are leaving or want to in the coming months. Some healthcare professionals in training are leaving their classes and giving up on their chosen profession. People are changing professions. It’s a loss of talent and it’s a real waste when you think of all the years of study that will amount to nothing. It has huge collective consequences and can result in decreased healthcare services in Abitibi-Témiscamingue,” said one union member who has been working in the health industry for 25 years and actively contributed to various training programs.