New CISSSO CEO planning to address hiring issues, surgery backlog

New CISSSO CEO planning to address hiring issues, surgery backlog

The new CEO of regional health authority CISSSO, Dr. Marc Bilodeau, spoke with CHIP 101.9 as part of a series of interviews with Outaouais media following the start of his four-year mandate on January 22. Bilodeau comes from a long career in health care for the Canadian Armed Forces, starting as a medical officer with the 1st Battalion of the Royal 22e Régiment in Valcartier and rising to the role of Surgeon General and Head of Health Services for the Armed Forces in 2020.

Bilodeau said that one of his priorities is addressing the region’s surgery backlog. According to reporting by Justine Mercier in Le Droit, despite representing just 4.7% of Quebec’s population, 11.2% of patients waiting more than a year for surgery were from the Outaouais. He said that one of the ways this issue is being addressed is by outsourcing some surgeries to the private sector.

Staffing was one of the issues that Bilodeau said was a top priority, as the proximity of well-paying jobs in Ontario has long made hiring and retention more difficult. He also spoke about the use of private staffing agencies, a practice that exploded during the pandemic and was highlighted in a recent investigation by the Globe and Mail.

The full interview with Bilodeau (9m55) is available here.