A year and a half after the Pontiac user committee re-established itself in the region with the mandate of advocating for better health services for this corner of the Outaouais, it’s finding its services are still little known to residents.
“We definitely need people to know that we’re there for them, for their complaints,” said committee president Jennifer Larose. “They can call us and we can get them help.”
The seven-member committee returned to the Pontiac in Nov. 2023, after a six-year hiatus. Its purpose is to work with the three resident committees in the region to ensure proper living conditions for people living in long-term care facilities and advocate, more generally, for the rights of all who access health and social services administered by local healthcare authority CISSSO.
Quebec law upholds 12 key rights for users of its health and social services network, which include the right to receive services in English, and the right to lodge a complaint. Part of the committee’s mandate is to ensure these rights are being respected, but it relies on complaints from users of the services to fulfill this mandate.
“Now we’re back, and we want to make sure that we put a face to the names, so people can know there’s help out there,” Larose said. “We’re not just there for the complaints but we’re also there to help people [navigate the system].”
The committee’s secretary treasurer Bruno St-Cyr travels to Gatineau a few times a year to meet with the presidents of other Outaouais user committees to compare notes and push CISSSO administrators to take action on certain key challenges.
“If we have any issues, any problems or concerns in Pontiac, we can address that to the committee there,” St-Cyr said. “And sometimes we have the visit of Mr. Bilodeau, who is the director general of the Outaouais.”
He said the committee’s current concerns include the quality of the food served to people in hospitals and in long-term care homes, something the Pontiac user committee has already expressed to CISSSO; the lack of occupational therapists and psychologists in the Pontiac; and the need for more wheelchairs in hospitals across the region.
“We don’t have power, but we can influence or guide certain conversations to address the critical holes we see in services being provided,” St-Cyr said.
Anybody wishing to register a complaint or concern with the user committee can reach it by calling 819-647-3553 extension 252537.
