Sorel hospital urges Barrette to let it install bronchoscope

Institution raised more than $230,000 for lung-cancer detection equipment

The Hôtel-Dieu de Sorel hospital is asking the provincial health minister to reconsider a decision preventing lung cancer-detection equipment from being installed at the hospital.

The hospital raised more than $230,000 in donations to buy the equipment and has the budget, personnel and infrastructure in place.

However, Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette has until now refused the installation of the new bronchoscope — citing that his health care reform legislation requires that patients be referred to St-Hyacinthe.

Fondation Hôtel-Dieu de Sorel president Jocelyn Cayer said at a news conference Tuesday morning that Sorel-Tracy has the highest rate of lung cancer in the region and that the acquisition of the bronchoscope followed provincial regulations to the letter before Barrette’s reforms of April 2015.

Cayer said that Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de la Montérégie-Est head Louise Potvin had assured the foundation in July 2015 that funds raised in the region would remain in the region.

However, the CISSS ruled last week that the hospital would not get the bronchoscope, despite the fact it was being paid for by local residents and not by the ministry.

Faced with public outcry, Barrette on Monday asked the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) to advise him on the issue. The institute’s report is expected in March.