Hôtel-Dieu de Sherbrooke: Six days in a mental emergency

Sabrina, a 23-year-old woman with severe eating disorders, was recently admitted to the psychiatric unit at the Hôtel-Dieu de Sherbrooke due to malnutrition and required emergency hospitalization, according to her doctors.

The young woman expected to be admitted immediately, but instead she waited six days in a psychiatric emergency room. His mother, Melanie Rodrigue, is lamenting the situation.

“For six days, they sleep on stretchers or makeshift beds. All these people have a shower and a bathroom,” she said.

Amelie is a story reminiscent of Champagne

In September 2022, Amélie Champagne took her own life after a stay in the mental health emergency room at the Hôtel-Dieu in Sherbrooke. Amelie refuses to spend days on a stretcher. A fear shared by Sabrina's mother.

“When I don't hear from her, I always get scared when she's in her apartment. Sabrina sometimes tells me, “Mom, I don't want to die, I want to sleep, I'm tired, I feel like giving up.” She lives in the dark, that's what saddens me,” Ms. Rodrigue added.

1 bed for 12 waiting customers

In total, 122 beds are available in various psychiatric departments at Hotel-Dieu. A mental health emergency room serves as a waiting room.

According to Annie Masson, deputy director of mental health and dependency at CIUSSS de l'Estrie-CHUS, a consumer is in a mental health emergency unless a hospital bed is available. For about one bed, about 5 to 12 users are waiting to be admitted to the hospital.

“So, we select the best possible patient for that bed, by acuity of care, by unit, we don't mix clients,” she explained.