Quebec needs more nurses to answer flood of telehealth calls, health minister says – CBC

Asking for more 811 staff unrealistic, shows minister is out of touch, union says

Dec 01, 2022

The province’s health minister is pleading with qualified nurses, asking them to sign up and lend a hand to the 811 service, saying the province’s telehealth staff are overwhelmed with an increase in calls.

On Thursday, Christian Dubé said the province is looking for retired nurses, those working in the private sector and nursing students. He said they can sign up on the province’s recruitment website called Je contribue — French for “I pitch in” — that was launched at the start of the pandemic.

Dubé said the province needs 3,000 qualified people to step up but added Quebec “could take up to 5,000 nurses to answer the phones.”

“If there are nurses that want to help us over the coming weeks, there are good schedules. It’s work that can be done part time.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/gap-system-access-care-family-doctor-1.6670676