The Case of OPTILABThe centralization of Quebec laboratory services at the OPTILAB biological testing clusters is just one example of how the Quebec government has failed to take social responsibility for the health care network, those who work in it and those it is supposed to serve. OPTILAB was created in 2017 under then Liberal Minister of Health Gaétan Barrette, as a highly centralized merger of biological testing services. Laboratory testing that was previously done on-site at major hospitals in Quebec is now done in an OPTILAB facility. Test results that previously took days now can take weeks.
The recent tragic death of a Saguenay doctor bears out these concerns. Thirty-year-old Dr. Michael Proulx died in February after a diagnosis of stage four lung cancer. Having been diagnosed with advanced stage four lung cancer, Dr. Proulx was hospitalized at the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ), where specialists suggested emergency chemotherapy as well as targeted therapy. Although they had the personnel, expertise and equipment to perform the tests necessary to determine the appropriate treatment within two to three days, they were not permitted to conduct the tests and had to send specimens to OPTILAB for testing and wait weeks for results. By the time the results came back from OPTILAB, Dr. Proulx had succumbed to his illness. The IUCPQ specialists and family members say that the delays caused by having testing done by OPTILAB prevented treatment that might have saved his life. The situation is particularly frustrating in light of the fact that the current Minister of Health has told doctors that disagree with the centralization and warn that it will have serious negative impacts on patient care, that they just had to "live with it." The medical staff and family have been left with a sense that "all was not done" to help Dr. Proulx. This tragedy also raises the question of how many other lives have been lost or peoples’ health severely compromised because of the neo-libeal restructuring of the health system in the name of “economies of scale” and other “cost saving." This was also brought home by the Quebec Health and Welfare Commissioner who, with regard to the loss of lives in long-term care centres, recently stated that lives could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic "if the Quebec health care system had been truly based on the needs of the population." Such is the reality of the Legault government's so-called responsibility for Quebec's health care system.
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
When
the changes were made to centralize laboratory testing, Quebec health
care workers' unions and many doctors objected on the grounds that it
was a threat to both patients and workers. They underlined the
importance of maintaining laboratory services that are community-based,
to be able to provide the fastest possible test results for patients in
Emergency Departments and those admitted to hospitals. They warned that
this centralizing measure would reduce the quality of services and
limit access to the population.