CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Oct. 7, 2020
Physiotherapy at the Pontiac Community Hospital has experienced a major disruption this year, and will likely remain limited for the foreseeable future.
According to CISSSO media relations agent Patricia Rhéaume, two of the hospital’s physiotherapists are currently . . .
on sick leave, and officials have no indication of when they will return. One has been absent since January, while the other has been gone for the past six weeks.
An employee at the hospital familiar with the issue explained that while there is still a staff member able to carry out existing physio regimens, they don’t have the requisite training to conduct a preliminary evaluation. The employee requested anonymity since they are not cleared to speak with the media.
“She’s more of a technician physiotherapist, she can’t do a preliminary evaluation on patients,” the source said. “A [physiotherapist] can do the preliminary evaluation and then she can continue the care.”
CISSSO had been sending a therapist from Hull twice a week for the past month to conduct the assessments, but haven’t been able to continue the service since last week. Rhéaume wrote in an email they were making their best efforts to solve the problem.
“They are working very hard, the coordinator and everybody higher up, to try and get somebody, at least until the ones that are off on sick leave come back,” the source at the hospital said.
“They’re trying to come up with a plan, to try and send somebody and see what they can do,” they continued. “We do work well together … the colleagues from the CISSSO, they’re very cooperative so they try to lend us a hand when they can.”
The source said that they, typically have around 10-12 patients that require physio daily, but currently there are only a few who haven’t yet had their initial assessment.
“Right now for primary evaluation, [we] have three or four that need to be evaluated because the other ones were being seen before, so the technician can continue with their therapy,” they said.
“So yea, the families are upset, and I don’t blame them, but it’s the same thing as nurses, [we] can’t go Abracadabra [and hire someone],” they continued.
Rhéaume said that no patients have been transferred as a result of these interruptions, and officials are currently assessing possible solutions.
“No clients have been redirected to Hull so far,” she wrote in an email. “We are in communication with the Disability and Rehabilitation Department to find solutions by sharing certain resources, or even client assessments via teleconsultation. We are in discussions for these possible options at this time.”
