Pontiac Hospital

A man in a suit with a grey beard stands during a press scrum

CISSSO CEO visits Pontiac during tour of region

October 2, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Dr. Marc Bilodeau, CEO of regional health authority CISSSO, was in Shawville at the Pontiac Hospital on Monday September 30 for a meeting with local representatives. This is Bilodeau’s second tour of the region since taking th e helm of the organization in January 2024.

Bilodeau spoke about the recent news reported in Le Droit that the CISSSO was projecting a deficit of $70 million this fiscal year. He said that an aging population which increases demand for long-term care, as well as increased costs for goods and services, were key drivers of this situation. He added that their reliance on private staffing agencies was also a big factor.

Bilodeau also spoke about the organization’s efforts to cut back on the use of private agency staff, which the province is requiring that they phase out by October 2026. He said that they can look to regions that have earlier deadlines to end this practice as a guide.

Only one imagery tech departs Pontiac Hospital for city — most have chosen to stay

September 13, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Following Saturday’s news that the provincial government had equalized the bonuses for medical imagery technicians in the Outaouais, regional health authority CISSSO is reporting that only one tech out of four has followed through on their application to work in the city. This leaves the Pontiac Hospital with five out of eight full-time positions filled, with another two part-time staff available to fill in.

CISSSO’s Pontiac representative Nicole Boucher Larivière said that they were pleased to report that most of the technicians had chosen to stay. She added that one tech had interviewed to work in a facility in Ontario, but at this point hadn’t informed them that they were leaving Pontiac.

She explained that they would be able to maintain services as before, albeit with some more overtime and on-call hours, which she said wasn’t ideal but was a “scenario [they] can live with.” She said that she hoped the $22,000 annual bonus offered for the next two years would make their recruitment efforts more competitive with other facilities in the region.

A drone shot of the Pontiac Hospital. The building is a low rise building, sitting on green space with parking lots all around it.

Bonuses equalized for Outaouais imagery techs

September 9, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

On Saturday (September 7) Health Minister Christian Dubé announced that the government would be equalizing the bonuses offered to medical imagery technicians in Outaouais health facilities.

The saga of technologist bonuses began in the spring, when they were initially offered to techs in the Hull and Gatineau hospitals before smaller bonuses were offered to those in the rest of the region over the course of the summer, due to concerns about staff leaving for facilities where the bonuses were higher. Five of the six full-time techs at the Pontiac Hospital have applied to work elsewhere, but it’s unclear how many will actually leave.

Jean Pigeon, spokesperson for advocacy group SOS Outaouais, said that while it’s a small victory, it’s only a short-term fix to a long-term problem. Pontiac MNA André Fortin was positive about the change, but added that it was only a start.

Three men and two women stand in a hospital hallway.

Health Minister Dubé makes surprise visit to Pontiac Hospital

August 29, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dubé made a surprise visit to the Pontiac Hospital on Tuesday morning as part of his tour of the Outaouais, meeting with several local officials to discuss issues facing the regional health authority CISSSO.

Dubé met with CISSSO representatives including CEO Marc Bilodeau and several local managers, as well as Pontiac MNA André Fortin.

CISSSO’s Pontiac director Nicole Boucher Larivière said that they discussed many issues facing the local service network, including the possible departure of several imagery techs in the coming weeks.

SOS Outaouais, a regional coalition advocating for improved health care in the Outaouais, said in a written statement that they had a telephone conversation with Dubé, where he committed to continued engagement with them. The statement highlighted the history of provincial underfunding of the region’s health care system.

As imagery technician exodus looms, Pontiac CISSSO rep lays out options

August 8, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

With the looming possibility of the majority of the medical imagery technicians departing the Pontiac Hospital, the regional health authority CISSSO spoke with CHIP 101.9 about their planning for the weeks ahead.

Imagery technicians handle several types of examinations, from CT scans to x-rays, and quick access to these services is vital in emergency situations.

On Sept. 9, the offers for the positions in the city will be finalized, but it’s currently unclear how many of those who have applied will be accepted and will actually follow through with leaving. Further complicating the situation, negotiations between the union representing the techs (APTS) and the provincial government are still ongoing, and any new developments could factor into the technicians’ decision making.

CISSSO’s Pontiac representative Nicole Boucher-Larivière said that once they find out how many technicians are leaving on Sept. 9, there will be negotiations with the APTS to determine the timeline of their departure so as to minimize disruptions in service.

The entrance to the emergency department at the Pontiac Hospital. The sign is blue at the top, white at the bottom with the words "Urgence/Emergency" written in red.

Government extends $18,000 bonuses to Pontiac imagery techs

July 16, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Late last week, the Quebec government announced that it had come to an agreement with the APTS, the union representing imagery technicians in the region, to extend bonuses of $18,000 to technicians working in the Pontiac region.

The bonuses are equivalent to the ones offered to staff at the Maniwaki Hospital, however, are $4,000 less than those offered to staff at the Hull, Gatineau and Papineau hospitals. When those bonuses were offered earlier in the summer and not extended to the Pontiac Hospital, several local techs applied to transfer to the facilities in the city.

Announcing the changes last week, Gatineau MNA Robert Bussière said that the bonuses now offered in rural areas are sufficient to prevent imaging technicians from leaving.

In a video posted to his social media, Pontiac MNA André Fortin said that the bonuses would not be sufficient to retain staff in the area and called on the government to equalize the bonuses throughout the entire region.

The entrance sign to the emergency department at the Pontiac Hospital.

Pontiac doctors pen open letter regarding imagery technician pay disparity

July 10, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

A group of Pontiac physicians have penned an open letter to Quebec’s Health Minister Christian Dubé, requesting that he urgently address the pay disparities for imagery technicians working at the Pontiac Hospital and other facilities in the region.

“We are proud of the services we can still offer to the people of the Pontiac, but with a major salary disadvantage for our technicians, we risk losing them and finding ourselves without these services,” they wrote.

Dr. John Wootton, who oversees the region’s family medicine group and has worked in the Pontiac since 1983, was one of the seven physicians who signed the letter, along with the hospital’s head surgeon, chief of anesthesiology and chief of the emergency department. He said that subjecting local technicians to a “political dogfight” is unacceptable and putting a lot of strain on the local network.

A drone shot of a hospital surrounded by green space and residential areas.

Pontiac imagery technicians seeking work elsewhere due to new bonuses

June 20, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Following the news last week that imagery technicians at the Pontiac and Wakefield Hospitals wouldn’t be receiving bonuses of around $20,000 offered to staff at other hospitals in the region, roughly half of the local technicians have applied to jobs elsewhere.

Health authority CISSSO’s Pontiac representative Nicole Boucher-Larivière confirmed to CHIP 101.9 on Thursday that four of the hospital’s eight imagery technicians had applied to work at the Hull Hospital, with another potentially seeking work in Deep River, Ont. She said that imagery technicians are vital for the ER and numerous other departments, and without a full staff, there is a very real risk of service interruptions.

Boucher-Larivière added that the applications take time and aren’t guaranteed to be successful, but was hopeful that in the meantime a solution would be found between the provincial treasury board and the union representing the technicians, the APTS.

A man in a suit stands in front of two microphones at a press conference outside a hospital.

Local officials decry imagery tech bonuses that exclude Pontiac Hospital

June 17, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Pontiac’s representative in the National Assembly, André Fortin, and other elected officials are calling on the provincial government to offer bonuses to employees at all the region’s hospitals. The group held a press conference on Thursday afternoon June 13 outside the Pontiac Hospital.

As reported in Le Droit yesterday, the province announced that bonuses they had been paying to imagery technicians in Hull and Gatineau would be expanded to techs at the Papineau and Maniwaki Hospitals, leaving out those in Pontiac and Wakefield.

Fortin said that while the situation for imagery techs is currently stable at the Pontiac Hospital, the province needs to do more to address the overall interprovincial pay disparity.

Pontiac Warden Jane Toller called the decision to exclude the Pontiac and Wakefield Hospitals from the bonus structure “a slap in the face”.

Three women stand near a sign for the regional health authority CISSSO.

First recipients of new nursing bursary announced — with hopes that it will help retain new nurses in the region

June 13, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Just a few months after it was announced, the MacLachlan family bursary‘s first recipients met on June 11 to celebrate the contribution to local nursing students. The $100,000 fund, administered by the Pontiac Community Hospital Foundation, will go towards four bursaries of up to $5,000 each per year, with the stipulation that the student must work in the Pontiac for as many years as they received the bursary.

Local health authority representative Nicole Boucher-Larivière highlighted the difficult position that they are in when it comes to staffing nursing positions throughout the Pontiac region.

The four accepted this year are Julie Soucie, Sarah Jewell, Marie-Pier Dufour and Kayla Legault, all of whom were in different stages of their schooling.

A man and a woman stand in front of a banner for the CISSS de l'Outaouais.

Family donation of new bursary for Pontiac nursing students hopes to address nursing retention

April 30, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

A new bursary to help retain local nursing students is now available thanks to a sizable private donation to the Pontiac Community Hospital Foundation.

The MacLachlan family recently donated $100,000 to the foundation in order to support the hiring and retention of new nurses, one of the local health service’s biggest challenges at the moment.

Dean said that they would be distributing four bursaries of up to $5,000 each per year, with the stipulation that the student must work in the Pontiac for as many years as they received the bursary. Applicants must be residents of MRC Pontiac or the Municipality of Pontiac, be bilingual, and be enrolled (full- or part-time) in a nursing program for the upcoming year in either Ontario or Quebec.

More information can be found on the foundation’s website, and the CISSSO’s website.

The white and blue entrance sign of the Pontiac Hospital.

New CT scan to be installed at the Pontiac Hospital next month

February 22, 2024 by Caleb Nickerson

Regional health authority CISSSO announced on February 21 that the long-anticipated replacement of the CT scan at the Pontiac Hospital will get underway shortly.

The installation of the machine will begin on March 11 and it will take roughly two months to install, calibrate and train staff. During the installation process, a mobile machine will be set up at the hospital to ensure continuity of service, at a cost of around $150,000, on top of the $850,000 spent on the scanner itself.

CISSSO’s Director of local services for the Pontiac, Nicole Boucher-Larivière, explained that while there were some delays during the acquisition process due to parts being on backorder, they were happy to be moving forward with the project. The installation will also involve renovations to the room as well as upgrades to the electrical and ventilation systems.

Boucher-Larivière said that the machines have an expected lifespan of about 10 to 12 years.