Decongestion of emergency rooms: UdeM opens its doors to patients
The occupancy rate has reached more than 150% in the emergency rooms of certain hospitals.
Premises at the Université de Montréal (UdeM), usually used for the training of nursing students, have been converted and will be made available to patients from the emergency department of the Cité de la Health in Laval, in order to unclog the latter.
Specialized nurse practitioners (SNPs) and nurse clinicians will be able to provide care on the Laval campus of UdeM, while sharing their expertise with students affiliated with the establishment.
“This is a university clinic-school where IPS nurses and clinical nurses will learn to work in tandem,” explained Sylvie Dubois, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Montreal, at Radio-Canada.
In addition to citizens redirected from the Cité de la Santé emergency department in Laval, the premises, located on Île Jésus, could accommodate patients referred by a professional from the front-line access counter (GAP), or by home care teams at the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) in Laval.
“The primary objective is to see patients elsewhere than in the emergency room and to increase the accessibility of care,” said Stéphanie Guindon, head of advanced practice and skills development at the CISSS de Laval.
Since the announcement of the creation of an emergency crisis unit at the beginning of November by the Minister of Health Christian Dubé, the IPS clinic in Laval is the fourth to open its doors in the metropolitan area.
It will be open by appointment from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Nearly 300 time slots will be filled each week.
