Staff at Montreal hospital say they have to ration facial tissues due to budget constraints

An employee at Montreal’s CHUM hospital says the facilities are rationing facial tissues for patients to save on costs. Instead, some staff are handing patients brown paper towels or toilet paper to blow their noses and dry their tears.

“It’s pretty rough,” the nurse said.

“We’re doing the best we can because these are patients who are in mourning, so we don’t want them to have to worry about bringing their own Kleenex on top of everything.”

CTV News is not identifying her as she fears repercussions for speaking out.

However, she stressed that she would rather the hospital cut tissues than staff.

A spokesperson for the CHUM said “this situation in no way reflects the daily dedication of the care teams” and tissues are available at the establishment.

“We took this decision following organizational consultations with our teams and patients, in a spirit of sound supply management. This approach is similar to what our network partners have been doing for years,” they said in a statement.

CTV News reached out to the MUHC and the CHU Sainte-Justine, who both say they have no issue providing tissues for staff and patients.

Paul Brunet, president of the Quebec Council for Patients’ Rights, said the CHUM must be in financial trouble to make these kinds of cost-cutting choices.

He said the spending decision left him feeling embarrassed.

“I want to believe … that this dumb decision is very local to a given department,” he said.

“If it’s a real whole policy from the CHUM, I’m afraid the CHUM will have to close because it means that they’re going bankrupt with this kind of penny pinching.”

Santé Québec said it did not give any directives on this matter to any health-care establishments.

In a written statement, Health Minister Christian Dubé said, “There are situations which aren’t defendable. I’m demanding managers to have better judgement. We must offer humane services to our patients.”

‘Lack of dignity’

But the opposition says this is the Coalition Avenir Québec’s latest failure when it comes to running the province’s health-care system.

“I can’t imagine being somebody who learns they have cancer and being handed a roll of brown paper,” Liberal health critic André Fortin told journalists at the National Assembly Thursday.

Québec Solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal compared the rationed tissues to pencils in schools.

“The government should stop its austerity in our public services and stop doing this type of cuts,” she said.

“It’s really shocking this lack of dignity for the people who go to the hospital in Quebec.”

In its latest budget, the CAQ set aside $3.9 billion on health care, while Santé Québec said it is facing a shortfall of $1.4 billion in network operations for the 2025-2026 financial year.

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Kelly Greig and Noovo Info