Hospital logo at clinic is misleading: Barrette
Health Minister Gaétan Barrette is demanding that the McGill University Health Centre “clarify” the use of an MUHC logo above the main entrance to an office building that houses a private children’s clinic, over concerns that this can cause a “mix-up” among members of the public.
“Patients might think this is an extension of the hospital, which it is not,” Joanne Beauvais, Barrette’s press attaché, said in an interview.
But a spokesperson for the MUHC said on Monday that there are no plans to remove the logo.
Barrette contacted the MUHC after the Montreal Gazette reported last week that the public hospital network is diverting thousands of patients from the Montreal Children’s to a private clinic on de Maisonneuve Blvd.
Run by the Brunswick Medical Group, The Children’s Clinic charges $25 for a peanut-allergy test and up to $200 for blood work — tests that are covered under medicare if conducted in a hospital. What’s unusual about the MUHC’s arrangement with the clinic, critics say, is that it’s staffed by Montreal Children’s physicians and located in a building that’s owned by the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation. Displayed prominently above the front doors of the building at 5100 de Maisonneuve is the crest of the MUHC.
Barrette is not questioning the right of a private clinic to operate or charge fees for certain tests, as long as those fees are legal, Beauvais added.
“But we believe that the logo issue is something that maybe the MUHC should look at. ... We will see later if the minister needs to give instructions (to remove it)."
A Université de Montréal legal scholar with an expertise in health law has questioned “on an ethical level” the MUHC’s decision to use its logo in front of the building if it’s not part of the hospital network. Catherine Régis, who holds the Canada Research Chair in law and health policy at the U de M, said some parents “might be misled” into thinking the private clinic is part of the MUHC.
Rebecca Burns, a public relations official at the MUHC, countered that “there is no confusion” regarding the use of the MUHC logo. “The MUHC will not be removing its sign from 5100 de Maisonneuve,” Burns said in an email. “Although Aeroplan rents many floors of 5100 de Maisonneuve, there is no confusion about the MUHC’s mission or that of the building’s tenants.”
What’s unprecedented about the private clinic is that it offers services in no fewer than nine pediatric specialties — from allergy to urology. Typically, a private children’s practice might be run by a handful of pediatricians. By comparison, the de Maisonneuve clinic has more than 80 pediatric specialists on staff.
Dr. Harley Eisman, medical director of the clinic and chief of emergency at the Montreal Children’s, said parents will be given the option of paying for tests at the clinic or going to the hospital to get them done without charge under medicare.
However, the president of Médécins québécois pour le régime publique, a pro-medicare group, has argued that some parents might be under pressure to pay for tests at the clinic, knowing that it might take some time to get test results at a hospital. Dr. Isabelle Leblanc accused both the MUHC and provincial government of opening the door to two-tier medicine.
Beauvais said the government is expected this week to adopt Bill 20, which would regulate fees that private clinics can charge. She predicted that some fees will be drastically reduced under the new regulations.