41% of CHSLD rooms without air-conditioning, association says

The number of air-conditioned rooms in CHSLDs in Quebec continues to increase, but there is still a significant proportion of units without air conditioning, according to the Association québécoise des retraités des secteurs public et parapublic (AQRP).

Nearly 60 per cent of residents in CHSLDs have access to an air-conditioned room in 2023, indicates data compiled by the AQRP and published on Monday.

This represents a slight increase of 2.3 per cent compared to 2022. Over the past 10 years, the percentage of air-conditioned rooms in CHSLDs has steadily increased, rising from eight per cent to 59 per cent.

That means 41 per cent of the rooms in the network are without air conditioning, notes the provincial president of the AQRP, Paul-René Roy.

The data shows the CHSLD network received more than 4,800 requests this year to air-condition individual rooms. Roy says it’s not clear how many of those requests were accepted.

According to statistics obtained, CHSLDs seem to favor the air conditioning of common areas more than of individual rooms, says the AQRP, as most CHSLDs have at least one air-conditioned common room.

The association’s results are based on an access to information request sent to all CISSSs and CIUSSSs last May. Five of them did not respond, including Lanaudière, Chaudière-Appalaches and Gaspésie.

—This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews