Quebec will aim to 'minimize' impact of $1.5B cuts on health-care services
Minister says eliminating health-care deficit is 'non-negotiable'
Quebec's newest Crown corporation, Santé Québec, officially takes control of the province's health-care system this weekend — and takes on the Herculean task of tackling an anticipated $1.5-billion deficit.
Health Minister Christian Dubé gave an update Friday morning ahead of Sunday's inauguration of the new health-care agency.
He said Santé Québec has been mandated to return to a balanced budget, a task the minister has described as "non-negotiable."
Dubé acknowledged that while a reduction in institutional spending will likely affect public services, every effort will be made to minimize the impact.
"Right now we're looking at everything to make sure there's going to be budgetary discipline and that we'll be able to minimize — that's the right word, minimize — the impact on services," he said at a news conference Friday.
Starting Sunday, Santé Québec will manage all health-care establishments in the province. The Crown corporation is a crucial part of the Legault government's solutions to reform the health-care system.
Its main missions are to improve access to services, reduce waitlists for surgeries and reduce wait times in ERs. The health agency will be run by some 900 employees.
"Is this the ideal time that I would have liked Santé Québec to have arrived, with the difficulties, the budgetary rigour, etc.? It's really not ideal," Dubé said.
But he said hard times often present "an opportunity for change," pointing to the government and health network's response to difficulties presented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Finance Minister Eric Girard presented an economic update showing Quebec is running an $11-billion deficit in 2024-25 in part because the cost of some things, including health care, have increased.
The government has already asked Crown corporations and the health-care network to find ways to save money this year, specifically by slashing administrative costs.
'Welcome to the real world,' critics say
Opposition parties say Dubé is finally realizing what they've known for months.
"Welcome to the real world," Québec Solidaire health critic Vincent Marissal told reporters, addressing the minister.
"You cannot cut $1.5 billion in this system that is already overstretched and think that you will get no effect on the patients."
Marissal said he's worried about what these cuts will mean for public services, saying he expects things to go "from bad to worse."
The health critic for the Parti Québécois, Joël Arseneau, is slamming the province for adding another agency — one he says will be used as a scapegoat.
"[The minister] is not going to be doing the dirty job. He's just decided to shift it to an agency and he thinks that through this, you know, magic of a top gun, it's going to be done without hurting people."
"Unfortunately, my fear, it will. Drastically."
While the creation of Santé Québec is the foundational piece of the Coalition Avenir Quebec's health-care reforms, Dubé maintains it is just one of the tools that will make a difference in the system.
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With files from La Presse Canadienne and Cathy Senay