The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, was in Rimouski on Monday morning to announce reductions in the regional medical staffing plans (PREM) in order to help the regions attract more family doctors.
At a press conference at the University of Quebec in Rimouski, the Minister indicated that the regional departments of general medicine would benefit from greater autonomy to distribute their available positions according to their local priorities.
In a press release, the minister said he wanted to “bring decision-making back to the field, to the regions”.
In the process, the Ministry of Health and Social Services also expressed its desire to assign the specific medical activities (AMP), to which a family doctor must commit, as soon as his hiring in a region is confirmed. given.
In parallel with their clinical practice, family physicians must perform on-call shifts in emergency rooms or in residential and long-term care centers in particular. These AMPs are often assigned after the doctor arrives in a region. From now on, we would like these tasks to be the subject of a prior agreement.
This new approach should allow new doctors to choose the region where they want to establish themselves according to their interests, according to the AMPs proposed.
In addition, a new online tool is about to be launched to consolidate family medicine job offers in all regions. New physicians will thus be able to better assess the positions offered according to the tasks that are required. This tool should eventually also be available for medical specialists.
When making this announcement, Minister Christian Dubé was accompanied by the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, as well as MNA Catherine Blouin.
The vice-rector for studies and student affairs of Université Laval, Cathia Bergeron, the rector of the Université du Québec à Rimouski, François Deschênes, and the CEO of the Integrated Health and Social Services Center of Bas-Saint- Laurent, Dr. Jean-Christophe Carvalho, also participated in the press conference.
Remember that the PREMs aim to distribute medical staff across the province.
