Santé Québec, Health Ministry ignoring climate context, denounce health professionals

Santé Québec and the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) are missing the environmental shift in the health-care system, denounce health-care professionals in a letter sent to these two government bodies.

The 38 signatories of the letter say they are “astounded” that the climate context was not considered in the “Plan de transformation, Ensemble, pour une transformation durable et des résultats,” published earlier this year.

“We are encountering administrative and governance barriers of all kinds throughout the network. We had hoped that the MSSS Transformation Plan would include a significant ecological dimension to reduce its environmental footprint. However, this is not the case,” reads the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

“Today, we are asking the MSSS and Santé Québec to exercise strong leadership and to include among their priorities the ecological shift necessary to achieve sustainable care, reduce our environmental footprint, and collectively adapt to the climate crisis,” the letter states.

The physicians, pharmacists, professors of medicine, anesthesiologists, nurses, and planning officers who signed the letter argue that the investments required to decarbonize the health-care system would quickly lead to cost savings. This is not to mention the benefits for the health of the population.

“It’s a huge paradox: while the healthcare system’s primary mission is to improve the health of the population, it also actively contributes to worsening it,” they lament.

The Quebec healthcare system emits approximately four per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Several ecological initiatives are already underway in the health-care system, but health-care professionals are keeping everything under control, even though they are already overworked.

“Santé Québec, by taking the pulse in the field, would probably be easy to issue guidelines by observing everything that is being done now,” said Geneviève Ouellet, a pharmacist, who signed the letter.

The ecological aspect is present in all areas of care, from procurement to waste disposal. The signatories of the letter expect support from Santé Québec and the Ministry of Health to standardize best practices in all health-care settings.

Some health-care stakeholders have ambitious goals, such as the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME), which wants the health-care system to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.

Despite the challenges, vice-president Geneviève Ouellet is staying the course. “If everyone gets in the boat and rows in the same direction, I think it’s possible, but it’s clear that it will require the involvement and leadership of our senior leaders,” she said.

The AQME, the Quebec Sustainable Health Action Network (RASDQ), the Éco-CMDPSF, and many others are working to create healthy environments that emit fewer greenhouse gases (GHG). Quebec also has several private, environmentally friendly companies that could make a difference in supply.

“Everyone is there, everyone is ready,” said Ouellet. “There are already plenty of actions being taken, but it would be great if it came from the top. It’s a shift we can make, but we just have to stop thinking that someone else will take care of it.”

Eco-responsible health-care approaches are not only better for the environment, they are also better for public health and public finances.

Ouellet believes supply contracts, which sometimes last 10 years, should take environmental criteria into account instead of being based solely on price.

“Why do we favour a drug that comes from elsewhere, that requires transportation with a much greater GHG impact than another product made here, but that generates jobs here and the company has a higher environmental awareness than another (…) all this just because the drug is 15 cents cheaper?” she criticized.

“We just want our goal to be heard and we believe we are capable of getting there, but we need support,” concluded the pharmacist.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews