After completing an inventory, the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de Laval issued a statement on April 28 saying they now have a sufficient amount of face masks and other protective equipment to ensure the safety of its employees, clients and partners from being infected by COVID-19.
A spokesperson for the health and social services agency said it was important to note that management of the inventories is taken care of by the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). According to the CISSS, the provincial ministry is responsible for shipping loads of protective equipment daily, depending on the needs of institutions.
“Like all players in the health network, the CISSS de Laval has put into place a very rigorous management of individual protective equipment in order to assure the fairest used,” the statement continued. The agency said that follow-up measures were being taken to make sure quality protective equipment was being made available in sufficient quantities and in places where it is necessary.
“All decisions taken with regards to the security and the dispensing of care to users are based on scientific facts,” said the CISSS. “In that sense, all the measures which are put into place to ensure the security of our employees are dictated by the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), in conjunction with professionals from the infection-prevention team at CISSS de Laval.”
The CISSS’s statement came following widespread news reports over the past few weeks of drastic shortages of protective gear, including N95 face masks, gowns and facial shields, at long-term care residences (CHSDLDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal and Laval, including CHSLD Sainte-Dorothée where reports of the problem first surfaced.
Martin C. Barry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for the Laval News, marty@newsfirst.ca
