Montreal-area family medicine clinic to close, citing Quebec's doctor pay reforms

A fellowship medical specialty clinic in w. H. Hudson, Que., w of Montreal, testament close citing the implementation of Quebec's controversial Bill 2.

The Hudson Medical Centre serves about 11,000 patients, mainly English speakers, according to Dr. Tara McCarty, a family doctor at the clinic and one of its co-owners.

It is the only bilingual GMF — the French acronym for family doctor group — in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region, she says.

McCarty said Wednesday that the clinic will be forced to close April 1 after three of the seven doctors practising there decided to leave the province in response to the new legislation.

“It has been a pretty devastating situation in our clinic, and I'm sure in many others,” McCarty said, adding that the law pressures doctors into giving “unsafe care to our patients.”

“We'll be told what, who to see, when to see them, how often to see them, how quickly to see them. And that is not only dangerous, but not the way we practise at our clinic,” McCarty said.

Bill 2 has been in place since Oct. 25 and ties doctors' salaries to key performance indicators, including the number of patients served and their degree of vulnerability.

Federations in Quebec representing medical specialists, family doctors and medical students, along with the association representing pharmacy owners, have filed legal challenges against the law, with many saying it will negatively impact patient care.

Wednesday evening, Premier François Legault and Dr. Marc-André Amyot, president of the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec (FMOQ), announced that the parties would “resume formal discussions immediately.”

“If an agreement is reached, the government would accept amendments to Bill 2, knowing that part of family physicians’ compensation remains conditional on taking on an increased number of Quebecers,” a statement reads.

The joint statement was released before the clinic’s closure became public knowledge.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Hudson Medical Centre said over the next few weeks, each patient will receive a separate message directly from their own family doctor specifying whether or not they will continue practising, as well as the next steps.

"Each doctor at the [GMF] will make their own individual decision, the one that is most appropriate for them and their family in the current context," the statement reads, urging patients to refrain from asking questions at reception regarding their doctor's future plans.

Patient Christie Lovat said four generations in her family, including herself and her two children, have been treated at the centre. 

She called the closure “devastating to the entire community.” 

“We don’t have a hospital here,” she said, noting that the centre is the “only place we can get medical care.” 

“I don’t understand how they could pass something so obviously destructive to medicine. It’s almost like if they’re intending to dramatically harm public health in Quebec. It’s astonishing, honestly."

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