Local network clinics begin to play their role

“The three network clinics we have on the territory work relatively well, but there is still a lot left to do until they reach their full potential. We’re talking another year,� said Daniel Corbeil, director general of the Bordeaux-Cartierville—Saint-Laurent Health and Social Service Centre (commonly referred to by its French acronym CSSS).

The network clinics were put in place as a way to give the population better access to front-line healthcare services. In order to become accredited establishments, the medical clinics had to adjust their hours. They are now open all week, 365 days a year; 12 hours a day, from Monday to Friday, and eight hours a day on weekends.

The clinics are also all equipped with a technical support centre for radiology. Patients needing to undergo an exam, will now be able to have x-rays done on the spot.

An agreement also allows the network clinics to access technical support facilities available at Sacré Coeur Hospital. As it stands, patients of the clinics that part of the Bordeaux-Cartierville—Saint-Laurent network have access to certain laboratories at Sacré Coeur already.

Suzanne Léger-Hardy, head of general care services at the CSSS, says a lot of work still remains to be done.on that front. “We are negociating with specialists at the hospital, but it’s going at a fairly slow pace. Nevertheless, the sense of partnership has been well implemented. It’s progressing,� she said.

For example, clinics that don’t have plaster rooms to treat fracture injuries can now redirect patients to Sacré Coeur’s emergency room where they will receive priority treatment. The same goes for diagnostic ultrasounds. A pilot project is also currently underway at the Centre d’Urgence Salaberry where microbiology tests can be done. One of the main objectives of the network clinics is to ensure the continued development of the links between patients and the local health and social service centre. As a matter of fact, Léger-Hardy set up the Table des infirmières de liaison to bolster the connection.

“Slowly, the network clinics are beginning to better understand the services at the CSSS. If a member clinic has a patient experiencing a loss of autonomy, forexample, the clinic will be able to refer the patient to the homecare service offered by the CSSS,� she said.

“We have about 60 vulnerable clients on our territory who have not yet been paired with doctors, but who are being cared for by one or another of the network clinics,� said Corbeil.

“We won’t be able to solve the problem of the doctor shortage in Montreal with the network clinics, but it does mark the beginning of a better organization of first-line medical services on our territory. We have a little more money to care for people with emergencies,� he added.

According to Serge Dulude, head of the regional department of general medicine at the Agence de la Santé et des Services Sociaux de Montréal, the creation of network clinics helps to reduce the number of certain types of patients clogging up hospital emergency rooms. Citing a mother who brings in her toddler because of a fever and earache, Dulude points out that “there are still cases like this that show up in emergency rooms, but there are fewer because network clinics have noticed an increase in activity of 20%.�

Dr. Albert Benhaïm, who runs the clinic Groupe Santé Physimed in Saint-Laurent, says that the accreditation of private medical clinics in the Bordeaux-Cartierville and Saint-Laurent regions was done rapidly thanks to the collaboration among area physicians. “In network clinics, there needs to be teamwork with a critical mass of physicians and an organization,� he said, adding that the visits to his clinic have increased 8% since it was accredited.

Put in place by the Agence de la Santé et des Services Sociaux de Montréal as a way to improve the efficiency within the CSSS, network clinics will cost $250,000 to run annually. The healthcare agency intends eventually to open 35 in Montreal, where currently there are 13. (Translated by Anna Bratulic)