On Sunday, the surgical ward at the Pontiac Hospital was named in honour of Dr. Earle Potvin, a surgeon family physician who’s healed generations of people in this community.
Dr. Potvin retired from practicing medicine a few years ago after 57 years of service, at the age of 85. What is more stunning than nearly six decades of playing a vital role at a small hospital is his humility when asked what he made of his contribution to the community.
“Never did I think that what I doing was that important,” he said.
That’s surprising coming from a man who was on call to respond to the community’s most urgent needs for the better portion of his life, who gave up Christmas mornings and anniversary dinners to care for others.
Except if you ask his family members, they never felt they got the short end of the stick. Potvin somehow did it all.
Rural physicians, back in the day, were jacks of all trades. They had to be. Potvin, because he saw the need, got himself trained in everything from obstetrics and gynecological procedures to orthopedics and plastic surgery. As Potvin’s own son, himself a doctor, pointed out, this is not a skillset that exists anymore, and replacing it is no easy task.
Potvin, of course, is not the only Pontiac doctor who has given his career to caring for generations of Pontiacers. He was joined at the celebration of the newly named hospital ward by some of his peers in this endeavour – Dr. Wootton, Dr. MacLellan and Dr. O’Neill to name a few.
While some of these physicians are still practicing, they too are slowing down their practices and are close to packing up the stethoscope for the last time.
Lets hope the provnce doesn’t push them out the door.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, to much opposition, the CAQ government pushed through a bill that forces a new pay system for doctors across the province, tying their wages to metrics like the number of patients they see, or how quickly they are able to make it through the list of people waiting for surgeries.
Under Bill 2 (which takes much inspiration from this summer’s Bill 106), specialists are forced to perform 97 per cent of surgeries within 12 months of their assessments. The new law also threatens steep fines ranging from $4,000 to $140,000 a day for doctors and medical federations found to be in violation of the legislation.
It’s an attempt, the government says, to get people off waitlists for family doctors and into their offices, and to burn through the growing wait times for surgeries. But doctors across the province have long warned it could have the opposite effect, especially in the Outaouais, where healthcare workers can easily hop across the river to work in Ontario when Quebec working conditions become unfavourable.
Add to that the fact that 22 per cent of family doctors in Quebec are over the age of 60. Many in this cohort may be working a reduced schedule, wading into retirement while still continuing to offer care to patients, and may be more likely to take early retirement than take on new rules around how they do their work.
Thankfully, Bill 2, unlike the proposed Bill 106, exempts doctors over the age of 63. It seems the government came to its senses and realized it would likely be prematurely pushing out the Dr. Potvins across the province who have acquired an invaluable skillset, one that would take five times as many people to replace – not a wise move when the province is already struggling to meet the system’s current demands.
Dr. Potvin’s dedication to this community, despite many years of changing healthcare regulations that have seen the shuttering of important services in the Pontiac, regulations that surely did not make his job any easier, is certainly worth honouring.
The celebration on the weekend gave those who know Dr. Potvin the chance to share stories and reflect on his nearly six decades dedicated to practicing medicine. On behalf of the rest of the Pontiac community, thank you Dr. Potvin for everything you’ve done.
Sophie Kuijper Dickson
