The central role of primary health care is indisputable. As the point of entry to our health-care system, primary care should in theory meet 80 per cent of Quebecersâ health and social service needs by preventing health problems from occurring or worsening. The Legault governmentâs health-care reform plan (Plan santĂ©) aims to entrust primary care to Family Medicine Groups (or GMFs for groupes de mĂ©decine de famille) â 75 per cent of which are privately owned â and they are making it sound like this is a bold and innovative solution. Looking back at the last 50 years, Anne Plourde, author and researcher at the Institut de recherche et dâinformations socioĂ©conomiques (IRIS), found that the opposite is true. Private-sector involvement in primary care is nothing new, and the dominant view of primary care in QuĂ©bec has largely been shaped by the private sector.
In May 2020, a highly respected American medical journal published the findings of a study showing that implanting a recycled cardiac device is not associated with higher risk of infection than implanting a new one. Behind this article is a surprising story involving an APTS member.
Deaf or hearing-impaired persons and those with communication problems will no longer be entering the old building at 3600 Berri on the corner of Cherrier and St. Denis, a familiar Montréal landmark. The institute serving them, the Institut Raymond-Dewar (IRD), is moving, and the move marks a historic turning point that is a source of heartache for many.
Three years after being integrated into amalgamated mega-institutions, how are the CRD addiction rehab centres doing? Is the smallest mission in the healthcare system managing to keep its identity? Have there been changes in professionalsâ and techniciansâ practice?
One of the most outstanding collaborative initiatives developed by the CRD Le Virage is with the Charles-Le Moyne family medicine group (GMF), which hired a multidisciplinary team devoted to treating people who suffer from an addiction problem.