By Canadian Press

Officials promise changes at Montreal hospital after ER nurse protest

Jan 17, 2023 | 12:11 PM

MONTREAL — Officials at a major Montreal hospital are promising changes after almost 100 emergency room nurses demanded the resignation of their unit chief.

The ER at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital was forced to reduce operations last night because of a nurse-led protest.

Jean-François Fortin-Verreault, head of the health authority for east-end Montreal, told reporters today his goal is to keep the ER open and improve working conditions for nurses.

Fortin-Verreault says ambulances will transfer fewer patients to the ER to reduce the nurses’ workload, adding that the unit chief has been moved to another part of the health network.

More than 90 of 115 nurses in the hospital’s ER signed a petition demanding the unit chief resign, and many nurses have threatened to quit because they can no longer accept working mandatory overtime.

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Health Minister Christian Dubé is scheduled to speak with media today about the situation at the hospital, as well as the staffing shortages and ER overcrowding that are plaguing the province’s health network.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press