Montreal homeless using emergency rooms as shelters during cold spells

Jon Egilsson was not in the CHUM emergency room very long when he was asked to leave.

“I stood there for like all of 10 minutes,” Egilsson told CityNews. “Security eyed me up, I got out of there.”

The unhoused Montrealer was seeking shelter from what he described as a “miserably cold” night. “You gotta have somewhere to go,” he said.

An increase in Quebec hospital emergency rooms being used as shelters by the unhoused has led to some hospitals upping security.

The McGill University Health Centre confirms it has “increased security and deployed more social workers to assist those in need,” media relations advisor Bianca Ledoux-Cancilla said.

“We always offer the same level of care and dignity to all our patients. Our priority remains their safety and security.”

The CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (CSSMTL) says Notre-Dame Hospital has seen an increase in the number of homeless people in its emergency services, “particularly during periods of extreme cold.”

It says it is “sensitive to the issue” and directs the unhoused to “appropriate services.”

“We remind you, however, that the primary mandate of a hospital emergency department is to provide critical care for users requiring urgent services,” Marianne Paquette, the media relations advisor for the CSSMTL, told CityNews. “Our priority is to maintain quality care and services for all our users, and to foster a safe environment for our employees.”

Overnight shelters at capacity

With a cold snap having descended on Montreal, it’s left many overnight shelters at maximum capacity, forcing them to turn people away.

“When I initially lost my apartment this time around, I went to Welcome Hall, Salvation Army,” Egilsson said. “There was another one whose name I can’t recall, and all of them were full.”

According to James Hughes of the Old Brewery Mission, it’s not a new phenomenon. “That’s been going on for a while.”

READ: Crowded shelters: ‘Heartbreaking’ to see homeless people looking for somewhere to sleep

His organization has an overnight capacity of about 450, and on average turns away 30 to 50 people daily.

“We are at capacity almost all the time, and frankly have been for about a year-and-a-half or two years,” said Hughes, the Mission’s president and CEO.

He says hospitals are having to adjust because 10 to 20 per cent of their emergency rooms, which are open 24/7, are occupied by unhoused people.

Hughes says solutions include expanding the emergency service network based on 24/7 services, more housing, and focusing on prevention.

Just last month, a 55-year-old man was found unconscious outdoors and later died of suspected hypothermia, according to Montreal police.

It’s something that didn’t shock Egilsson, who has experienced losing someone close to him.

“I had a friend pass away,” he recounted. “I think it was last year or so. They burned to death in a porta-potty. Yeah. It was way too cold out. They went in, lit a little fire.

“They ended up passing out from the fumes. Burned to death.”

CityNews reached out to the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians but did not immediately hear back.