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A mass vaccination campaign against the A(H1N1) flu was a top priority for the CSSS de la Montagne over the past year, according to the health and social services organization’s 2009-2010 annual report.
Tabled during the CSSS’s annual general meeting held at the William Hingston Centre in Park Extension on Nov. 8, the report goes on to say that the vaccination campaign set the pattern over the past year for the overall workload of the CSSS’s entire staff.
Yolande James speaks
Quebec Liberal Family Minister Yolande James, who was a special guest and featured speaker at the annual general meeting, referred to CSSS de la Montagne as “special in its approach and in its capacity to really become open and to serve everyone, the whole family, in the most appropriate sense of the word. As you must yourselves surely know, you have the privilege of being on a territory where there is the largest number of cultural communities.”
Following a decree from the provincial government, CSSS de la Montagne was created in 2005 from the merger of CLSC Côte des Neiges, CLSC Park Extension and CLSC Metro. Based on the amount of territory it covers (including downtown Montreal, Westmount, Town of Mount Royal, Côte des Neiges and Park Extension) and the number of residents it serves, CSSS de la Montagne is undoubtedly the largest CSSS on the island of Montreal.
Many projects in 2010
“Ever since the CSSS was created five years ago, we have been striving to carry out numerous projects,” the CSSS’s chairperson Denis Sirois and executive director Marc Sougavinski stated in the annual report. They maintain that this year’s report contains proof that in 2009-2010 many of the projects initiated up to five years ago were finally implemented.
According to the report, the administration and staff also spent considerable time in the past year meeting certain established objectives above and beyond their usual services. For example, they implemented a one-stop access service for mental health, as well as a one-stop medical access service, in addition to playing a role in developing a clinical reception project.
Maison Bleue in Park Ex
“With respect to prevention, promotion and partnership, we have finalized and approved the Local Public Health Action Plan and produced the first sustainable development plan,” added Sougavinski and Sirois. While noting that relationships with business partners are progressing in some sectors of the territory, they also pointed out that a second Maison Bleue facility for pregnant women is gradually being set up in Park Extension on Querbes Ave.
In March this year, the CSSS was awarded a recognition certificate by Accreditation Canada, a nation-wide hospital certification organization. The report referred to the accreditation as “a mark of recognition for the quality of services delivered by our institution … This attests to the staff’s commitment to offer our users the best care and services.”
Digitized records project
In April last year, the CSSS was chosen by the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal (the organization which oversees health and social services for all of the island) for a pilot project to convert all patient records into electronic format. According to the annual report, this so-called OACIS project was supposed to be finished by June this year. This past February, the CSSS also adopted a human resources development plan. “Given the prevailing recruitment challenges,” states the report, “efforts have been made to validate and recognize our employees’ contributions.”
The beginning of 2010 saw a massive earthquake take place in Haiti. The CSSS answered the emergency call by sending caregivers to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport to support reception operations, as well as to assistance centres in other parts of the city. In the past year, the CSSS received 15 per cent fewer complaints compared to the previous year. However, the number of complaints dealt with by medical examiners rose. In 50 per cent of the cases, the complaints were dealt with within a prescribed 45-day period.