07/27/2023
A notice issued this morning by the Integrated health and social services center of the Outaouais (CISSSO) alerts the public to changes taking place at the Pontiac Hospital in Shawville regarding services available on weekends.
Translated by THE EQUITY from the original French, the notice says:
"REORGANIZATION OF OPERATING ROOM AND INTENSIVE CARE SERVICES - PONTIAC HOSPITAL
Gatineau, July 27, 2023 - The Outaouais integrated health and social services center (CISSS) wishes to inform the public that, due to the shortage of respiratory therapists, a reorganization of activities in the operating room and intensive care unit at the Pontiac Hospital in Shawville, starting Friday, July 28 3:30 p.m. until Monday, July 31 at 7:30 a.m., and for all subsequent weekends indefinitely.
During these periods, we are obliged to suspend activities requiring the support of a respiratory therapist.
During weekends, starting at 3:30 p.m. on Fridays, the Hull and Pembroke hospitals will receive trauma victims when necessary. However, medical presence for consultation in general surgery and anesthesia is maintained.
For weekdays, the operating room and intensive care unit will resume their usual activities with respiratory therapy coverage, 24 hours a day.
The emergency department and all other Pontiac Hospital services will remain in operation. It is therefore vital that the region's population continues to come to the hospital for timely and appropriate care."
THE EQUITY spoke with a source knowledgeable of the situation at the hospital in Shawville who confirmed that the emergency room, complete with doctors and nurses, will remain open at the hospital throughout weekends, as usual. Patients requiring the services of a respiratory therapist, such as for intubation, would be moved by ambulance to either the Hull or the Pembroke hospital. Paramedics responding to emergency situations involving high levels of trauma requiring intubation would transport patients directly to the hospital in either Hull or Pembroke.
