Some experts have suggested a merger between the Gatineau and Ottawa health-care systems might prove to be a more efficient environment for patients and health professionals than the existing, separate systems.
The area spanning the Ottawa River has been criticized recently for its long emergency room wait times and for doctor shortages on the Quebec side.
“It’s hard to say how a single system could affect recruitment,” said Jean Bartkowiak, president of Ottawa’s SCO Health Service, a firm that runs four long-term care centres. But, he said co-ordinating human resources on both sides of the river could help alleviate health care shortages.
Though health care is a provincial responsibility, the current separate Ottawa and Outaouais regional systems are treating essentially a single, combined population.
People, like flu bugs, do not mind crossing the bridges into other jurisdictions, Bartkowiak said.
He said instead of duplicating current services, health officials should work together to attract professionals such as pharmacists, which both regions currently need.
He said a merger could also be beneficial when planning for possible pandemics because the regions tend to use different approaches to manage the control of pesky viruses.
Last October, Quebec hospital officials were asked to coordinate between departments to try to reduce wait times in Gatineau and Hull emergency rooms, which are contributing to overcrowding in Ottawa hospitals.
“It’s not just Quebec, the whole health-care system is facing challenges right now,” said Cathy Collette, manager of primary care and social services from the Centretown Community Health Centre. She said doctor shortages across the country have led to an aggressive ad campaign by the Canadian Medical Association.
These ads are particularly visible on OC Transpo buses where bright blue arrows that point out window-seat passengers who might be affected by health care shortages.
Collette said many emergency room patients needing hospital beds are held up because the beds are filled with people waiting to be discharged to a rehabilitation centre or another facility.
The idea to merge both systems is still new, and few health professionals are prepared to comment on its possible drawbacks and benefits.
“We don’t comment on that issue because it’s not our responsibility,” said Ginette Leblanc, a spokesperson for the Gatineau health and social service centre.
Bartkowiak said there is not a lot of interest yet in discussing the proposed merger, an idea that was introduced by Douglas Angus, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management.
In a CBC article, Angus said a single agency could help fill doctor shortages and retain personnel.
Angus was unavailable for comment.
The Outaouais is short of doctors and nurses in part because under the current system, the Quebec government does not pay doctors and nurses as much as Ontario pays their Ottawa counterparts.