Fermeture d'un centre de prélèvement d’organes
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Press release
16 October 2019

When Decisions and Compassion Don’t Go Hand in Hand

Fermeture d'un centre de prélèvement d’organes

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The Legault government’s decision to close the Organ Retrieval Centre at Montréal’s Sacré-Cœur Hospital to save a few thousand dollars is both incomprehensible and inhumane. We invite Minister McCann to show compassion and immediately reverse this senseless decision that is fraught with consequences.

Specialized personnel united together in the world’s most efficient structure.

Nobody wants to say goodbye to a loved one. People leave us all too soon, but the idea that a personal tragedy can save another life or many other people’s lives can sometimes help soothe our aching hearts. It was with that in mind that Dr. Pierre Marsolais, a renowned expert in organ retrieval, established the Organ Retrieval Centre at Sacré-Cœur Hospital a few years ago- a centre that he describes as being “the most efficient centre in the world for generating the highest number of transplants without interfering with the hospital’s usual operations.”

With his team made up of nurses, pathologists and doctors, they offer reassurance to families who are about to lose a loved one, and they accompany them through the organ donation process.

The families draw comfort from the fact that the organ retrieval will be done without delay because the centre is completely dedicated to organ retrieval. Because the staff have special training to accompany families, because there is an infrastructure dedicated to organ donation 24/7, because operating rooms have with two operating tables and two intensive care beds are available, because tragedy can strike at any moment. Because saving a life can be a matter of seconds, not minutes.

Because life is priceless.

Doing Everything We Can to Save the Thousands of Quebecers Who Are Awaiting Transplant

Today, there are thousands of Quebecers who are waiting for organ donation. They are why we need to improve the system. They are why we need to do everything that we can to ensure that our health care system does not present any obstacles for organ donation. The retrieval centre’s mission is just that; making everything easier on the victim’s family and improving the patient’s chances of receiving a transplant.
By closing the Organ Retrieval Centre at Montreal’s Sacré-Cœur Hospital, Minister McCann is closing the miracles department. Her accounting logic simply lacks humanity.

We, too, were pressured to close the centre and you know what? We said no. That is what a Health Minister does. They stand firm when confronted by other interests and always put patients’ interests first. Today Mr. Legault and Ms. McCann have failed at their jobs.

The CAQ government must immediately reverse this inhumane decision. Mr. Legault, it’s time to apply your favourite saying, “It will cost what it will cost”.

You cannot put a price on saving lives.

André Fortin
MNA representing Pontiac
Liberal Critic for Health and Social Services

Gaétan Barrette
MNA representing La Pinière
Liberal Critic for the Conseil du Trésor and Transport
 

Marwah Rizqy
MNA representing Saint-Laurent
Liberal Critic for Education, Higher Education and the Digital Strategy

Christine St-Pierre
MNA representing Acadie
Liberal Critic for Ethics, the Protection of the French Language and Canadian Relations

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Photo by Stéphane Batigne – Own work, CC BY 3.0.

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