Santé Québec parts ways with VP Frédéric Abergel
Posted March 3, 2025 1:21 pm.
Last Updated March 3, 2025 5:19 pm.
Less than a year after his appointment, Frédéric Abergel, Executive Vice-President of Operations and Transformation at Santé Québec, has been relieved of his duties with the provincial agency charged with turning around the healthcare network.
Santé Québec President and CEO Geneviève Biron made the announcement on Monday. In a written statement, Biron thanked Abergel for his contribution to the launch of Santé Québec, which officially came into being Dec. 1, 2024.
“After a few months of operation, I have made certain observations that lead me to make changes within the executive team to bring it even closer to the field. Right now, I’m beginning to analyze the candidacies of people who can put their knowledge of the network and their skills at the service of the population. Until the changes are announced, I will directly supervise the teams concerned,” said Biron.
Santé Québec’s Board of Directors ratified the decision.
In an interview on the LCN network, Premier François Legault drew a comparison with the SAAQclic crisis, recalling that he had replaced the SAAQ president after learning of the setbacks. “There, we realize that there are things to improve at Santé Québec and Geneviève Biron is taking action. That’s her role and that’s what I expect [from her],” he said.
Legault added that to ensure “good services to Quebecers,” Biron sometimes had to make difficult decisions, and that he supported her in her choices. The Premier said he was not aware of the details of the situation, specifying only that Biron “was not satisfied” and that she had asked Abergel to step down.
On the Bluesky platform, Health Minister Christian Dubé distanced himself from the announcement, stressing that it was a decision by Santé Québec, which is “an autonomous and independent Crown corporation.”
“I have full confidence in the competence of the people who run the organization and sit on the Board of Directors. This decision will bring management closer to operations and improve services to the population,” wrote the Minister.
He went on to say that the Ministry’s orientations are clear and their objectives ambitious. He stated that Abergel’s former duties are “crucial” to the achievement of these objectives and “to the success of this major transformation.”
According to a source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, there were differences of vision between Biron and Abergel. The latter wanted to leave more autonomy to establishments, while Biron advocated a more hands-on approach, taking what works well in some establishments and implementing it elsewhere.
Santé Québec’s Director of Communications would not confirm whether any particular event had prompted the decision. Like Biron, he too indicated that Santé Québec wanted to be closer to the institutions and the field, and that there might be a change in the agency’s structure. He indicated that there would be no departure other than that of Abergel.
Opposition reacts
Vincent Marrissal, Québec solidaire’s head of health, criticized Dubé’s reaction. “Another Santé Québec tile has fallen on Minister Dubé’s head, and he doesn’t seem to care,” he commented in a press release. “Mr. Abergel was Santé-Québec’s guarantor in the field, and one of the only managers to come from the public network. With his departure, who is at the helm of the healthcare network? Who is working to ensure that Quebecers have access to care without having to pull out their credit card a 2nd time?”
Parti québécois health spokesperson Joël Arseneau also has a harsh reading of the situation. “Appointed by the Minister and fired by Biron, this is the Minister’s failure. Chosen for his knowledge of the network, fired so that ‘the executive team can get closer to the field’. A bad omen,” he wrote on X.
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, wrote on social media: “Less than three months after the launch of Santé Québec, number one has just fired number two. Santé Québec is François Legault’s creature who was supposed to save the network.”
Tanguay recalled that Minister Dubé had praised Biron and Abergel, the first coming from the private sector and the other from the public. “Today, more than ever, Quebecers have no access to healthcare services. Another failure of this bad Legault government, at the end of its term,” deplored Tanguay.
At the time of his appointment last April, the government praised Abergel’s 20 years of experience as manager of the public health network. He was notably President and CEO of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the CIUSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
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–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
