More patients receiving care: the Châteauguay family medicine “club-école” is expanding

The Jardins-Roussillon university family medicine group has doubled the size of its premises in recent months, moving into the new wing of the Centre de santé Desjardins in Châteauguay. The aim is to accommodate more resident doctors and thus reduce the number of people waiting to be assigned a family doctor in the region.

Translation Amanda Bennett

According to the figures unveiled by the MNA representing Châteauguay, Marie-Belle Gendron, at the inauguration of the premises on February 5, this expansion, which represents an investment of $2.8 million, will increase the number of patients cared for from 14,000 to 21,000 “over the next few years”.

Every year, the GMF-U welcomes 16 family medicine residents, a dozen medical interns and a specialist nurse practitioner as part of their training at McGill University. With the expansion, the organization aims to increase the number of residents to 20 each year, double the number of outpatients and train a second specialized nurse.

For the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO), the presence of this training and practice facility in Châteauguay will help recruit new doctors to the area.

Recruitment assistance

They’re building the healthcare network, discovering the region, becoming attached to it, practising here and taking care of our population,” explained CISSSMO CEO Philippe Gribeauval. We are therefore maximizing the chances that they will choose to settle here (after their residency). In a way, it’s our training club!

The GMF-U Jardins-Roussillon now occupies two floors of the new section of the Centre de santé Desjardins : one is used for more academic training, while the other contains a number of offices for consulting patients and supervising doctors.

Family medicine under supervision

Each of the offices where residents see patients is equipped with a camera. In another room, equipped with a computer, the supervising doctor also attends the consultation. Medical consultations are generally longer for patients at the GMF-U because the supervising doctor will also be involved during the consultation, explained Dr. Mireille Benoit, Head of Medical Teaching and Research. “At the same time, patients have the chance to have a second medical opinion,” she emphasized during a tour of the premises.