More than 170 km to be treated in English

Photo Chantal Poirier
Richard Biernat has done 170 km of road in the finger injured to hospital treatment as St. Mary’s in Montreal.

Dominique Scali

Sunday, 18 February 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Sunday, 18 February 2018 01:00

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Richard Biernat has travelled the 170 miles from Rawdon, in Lanaudière, and the hospital St. Mary’s of Montreal at the beginning of the month.

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His thumb injured was bleeding profusely into a handkerchief during the journey of an hour and a half, but he wanted to be certain to be treated in English.

The man, 77-year-old cut off part of a finger, making a perch to birds for her granddaughter. It could have been treated in French to 30 miles from home. “But for the technical words, I need the English,” he says.

To receive health care in English is the main concern of anglophones living in the region, especially where the population is aging.

The Newspaper has found. This is the topic that came back most often during a meeting organised at the beginning of February by minister Kathleen Weil with the residents of Rawdon, where 10 % to 12 % of the population is English-speaking.

In addition, nearly half of the survey respondents, Lightweight say they have already had difficulty being served in English in order to receive a public service.

Sacrum or scrotum ?

Linda Heaton Tessier, 67, knows something. She has a broken hip, and tailbone in the past year. The nursing staff of the centre hospitalier de Joliette has ceased to respond to him in English as soon as he noticed that she could speak French, she says.

“I wanted to tell them that I had broken the sacrum. But I said scrotum to the place… ” she said, laughing.

The research shows that the fact of not having access to health care in their language can lead to errors in taking medication and have an impact on the number of emergency room visits, ” says Ghislaine Prata, who sits on the board of directors of the CIUSSS-de-Lanaudière.

Dare to complain

However, English speakers are often reluctant to ask to be served in English at the hospital or CLSC, she says.

“It is extremely difficult for the brits to dare to ask for a documentation or a service in English. Result : the leaders will say that there is no problem, since there are no requests. “