CHUM resignations need to be examined, Québec Solidaire says
Opposition party seeks parliamentary committee into alleged interference by Health Minister Gaétan Barrette
Québec Solidaire is demanding the government call a parliamentary committee to delve into the resignations of key people at the helm of the CHUM, Montreal’s French-language university hospital centre.
The call comes after CHUM's CEO, Jacques Turgeon, and the chairman of the board, Jean-Claude Deschênes, both announced their resignations on Friday.
That move prompted opposition parties to ask Health Minister Gaétan Barrette to step down, after he was accused of abusing his power and repeatedly interfering with the hospital's governance and staffing.
In a statement issued late Friday afternoon, a CHUM spokesperson said other board members also quit over the affair. According to Radio-Canada,Michel Gervais, Jean Bragagnolo and Paul Perrotte are among those who resigned.
Matthew Pearce, board member and director of the Old Brewery Mission, said he is also weighing his options in light of the other resignations.
Pearce said he was not pleased with Barrette's bedside manner, adding that the CHUM has lost some of its best people for no good reason.
Barrette a bully?
Québec Solidaire now says it believes Barrette could have intimidated the hospital’s administrative board.
Party MP Amir Khadir, who is also a medical doctor, said Turgeon and Deschênes’s resignations have destabilized the city’s hospital network. He said they came after years of turbulence within the network.
Khadir said Barrette suffers from a “serious attitude problem,” accusing him of denigrating or intimidating those who do not agree with him and those who refuse to obey him.
He said Barrette and the two former administrators should appear before a parliamentary committee to shed light on the goings-on at the CHUM.
With files from La Presse Canadienne