Quebec’s health-care reforms seem to have cost the town of Hudson its clinic. GMF Hudson Medicentre said in early November that it feared the changes to doctors’ pay based on the number of patients they see in a day would make it difficult to continue to operate. “We arrived at the determination that it was simply no longer viable from a business standpoint to keep the clinic open,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest. On Wednesday night, the clinic in the municipality west of the Island of Montreal said it will be closing permanently as of April 1. “Law 2 sets conditions in our practice that are unacceptable to a critical number of our physicians,” GMF Hudson said in a news release. “The constraints of the existing legislation are such that, in our opinion, family medicine groups can no longer operate in a manner that is safe for patients,” added Forrest in an interview. The Hudson Medical Centre was turned into a family medicine group (GMF) in 2021. That change meant adding more staff, such as nurse practitioners, doctors, nurses and receptionists, which added costs, but offered multidisciplinary care to patients. “Despite every effort to maintain operations and continue providign care to our community, the clinic is no longer financially sustainable as a business,” the doctors said. “For many years, we have practiced medicine with one guiding priority: to provide thoughtful, safe, relationship-based, patient-centered care. Law 2 makes this kind of medicine impossible. It dictates how many paitients a doctor must see, how quickly, how often and under conditions that do not allow the time or attention patients need and deserve.” The Facebook post, which included the news release, was shared over 100 times with dozens of comments bemoaning the news. “My family and I have received extensive and in-depth care for 26 years,“ one user wrote. ”To be forced to make this wrenching decision in today’s world is disgusting.” The user, and several others, said they signed an ongoing petition filed in the National Assembly requesting that the government repeal the law. The Health Ministry told CTV News that it is supportive of GMF’s model and does not want to cut funding. The clinic also criticized the section in Law 2 that permits government inspectors to enter clinics and review patient files. Specifically, the bill says: “no person may refuse to communicate to the inspector or investigator any information or document contained in the record of an insured person.” In addition, an inspector cannot be liable to prosecution for any act or omission done “in good faith” in the course of their duties. “We believe this violates the very foundation of medicine - trust and confidentiality between a patient and their physician,” the GMF Hudson doctors wrote. “Our patients’ medical information is sacred. We will never compromise confidentiality or allow anyone to access a patients’ chart for bureaucratic control. Protecting our patients’ privacy is non-negotiable, and we will always put their safety and dignity first.” The clinic said patients will receive a note directly from their physicians in the coming weeks, outlining whether the doctor will be continuing to practice and the steps moving forward. “Closing the clinic is the most painful decision of our professional lives, but continuing under conditions where patient care would inevitably suffer is something we simply cannot and will not do,” the doctors wrote. Long-time patient Caroline DeLeeuw called it “devastating.” “I’ve been at this clinic for, I don’t know, at least 40 years now. And, there’s a lot of people that live around here that rely on this clinic. And I don’t know where they’re going to end up,” she said. - With reporting from CTV News’ Jack Richardson.
