{"id":621450,"date":"2026-04-22T17:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621450\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T17:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:02:44","slug":"analysis-sante-quebecs-digital-health-plans-are-a-pr-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621450\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec’s digital health plans are a PR disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

No pilot project in health care has sparked so many negative headlines in so short a period as has Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s<\/a> plans to launch digital medical records on May 9.<\/p>\n

Consider just a couple of news reports from the past few days:<\/p>\n

\u201cDigital health records: \u2018The way this is being done is ridiculous!\u2019 \u201d screamed the headline over a Radio-Canada story<\/a> published Saturday, which quoted a surgeon at Sacr\u00e9-Coeur Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cFourteen internists are sounding the alarm about digital health records,\u201d declared Le Devoir<\/a> in an article on Monday, reporting the concerns of a group of Drummondville doctors that the two pilot projects \u2014 known in French as the Dossier sant\u00e9 num\u00e9rique (DSN) \u2014 may result in care that is \u201cless safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

No wonder, then, that Health Minister Sonia B\u00e9langer went out of her way Tuesday to point out she reserves the right to halt the pilot projects if necessary, adding she\u2019s following the dossier closely every day and holding weekly meetings with Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be able to give the green light or the red light before the launch on May 9,\u201d B\u00e9langer told a Presse Canadienne reporter.<\/p>\n

Longtime patient-rights advocate Paul Brunet suggested the two projects are far from ready. Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec is launching them in the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l\u2019\u00cele-de-Montr\u00e9al, which oversees Sacr\u00e9-Coeur, Jean-Talon and Fleury hospitals, and in the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Qu\u00e9bec, also in charge of several hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s frightening,\u201d Brunet said. \u201cWe know the government hasn\u2019t been very good at implementing digital platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunet was alluding to the ill-fated launch of the SAAQclic website<\/a> for vehicle permits, which blew its budget by $500 million and led to massive lineups at SAAQ outlets across the province. Some managers responsible for the SAAQ project are assisting Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec with its DSN deployment.<\/p>\n

In what is already being viewed by observers as an ominous sign, the DSN has cost overruns of nearly $135 million and has faced delays of more than two years. Despite those setbacks, nurses will still have to take down patients\u2019 vital signs on paper rather having the information uploaded into the computer system outside intensive-care units, The Gazette reported in January.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Jewish General Hospital in C\u00f4te-des-Neiges has kicked off its own pilot project involving digital health records. Under that project, patients\u2019 vital signs will be uploaded digitally across the hospital system. The Jewish General Foundation is financing the project, which has already attracted a $500,000 donation from Shopify president Harley Finkelstein.<\/p>\n

$100M. Entirely donor-funded. Faster and cheaper than the public equivalent.<\/p>\n

The Jewish General didn’t wait. That’s the whole lesson.<\/p>\n

Wrote about it with Lindsay. https:\/\/t.co\/ATFytFLOUu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) April 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tFears over \u2018digital sovereignty\u2019 intrusions\t<\/p>\n

Much of the unease with Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s projects arises from the fact that the Health Ministry had decided to partner with an American software giant, Epic Systems of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

The prospect of an American firm handling Quebecers\u2019 sensitive medical information prompted the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s own cybersecurity minister to take the unprecedented step earlier in April of publicly criticizing the U.S. partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs our health data safe right now? I don\u2019t think so. Not at all,\u201d Gilles B\u00e9langer said.<\/p>\n

In an apparent rebuke for his public comments, Quebec Premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette did not name B\u00e9langer to her new cabinet on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

For its part, Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec has released a stream of statements on the X social media platform in response to every news report as it defends its handling of the projects. The state corporation managing health care is to hold a technical briefing with reporters Wednesday in the hope of turning public opinion in favour of the DSN.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec spokesperson Lisa Fiset insisted that Quebecers should not have to worry that their personal medical information might be inadvertently mishandled by a foreign corporation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRest assured, digital health record DSN data will be hosted in Canada, specifically in Montreal and Toronto, in data centres operated by Epic Systems that meet very high security standards,\u201d Fiset said in response to queries by The Gazette.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese standards are designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information through rigorous risk\u2011management practices. Digital health record data remains the property of Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec. The vendor, Epic Systems, has no control over this data, regardless of the hosting environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tRamping down clinical activities\t<\/p>\n

\"EpicA screenshot of the website of Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, which will be managing the software of Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s digital health records in two pilot projects.<\/p>\n

Concerns about digital sovereignty aside, a number of physicians have complained that Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec will be purposely ramping down clinical activities to ensure that the DSN deployment runs glitch-free. Sacr\u00e9-Coeur Hospital, for example, will reduce its volume of surgeries to 50 per cent of its capacity in the first week of the deployment and to 75 per cent in the week afterward.<\/p>\n

Liberal opposition health critic Monsef Derraji revealed Saturday what he viewed as a host of problems with the deployment at Sacr\u00e9-Coeur, based on interviews he conducted with staff. Those revelations include labs and the blood bank struggling to integrate with the new system; \u201csuperusers\u201d who are supposed to help staff still relying on cheat sheets to navigate the system; and more than 80 per cent of doctors and nurses acknowledging they have not been trained adequately.<\/p>\n

Derraji called upon Quebec\u2019s professional orders for doctors and nurses to intervene as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Dossier de sant\u00e9 num\u00e9rique : des inqui\u00e9tudes croissantes \u00e0 l\u2019approche du d\u00e9ploiement<\/p>\n

\u00c0 quelques semaines du d\u00e9ploiement du Dossier de sant\u00e9 num\u00e9rique (DSN) dans plusieurs \u00e9tablissements du r\u00e9seau, dont l\u2019H\u00f4pital du Sacr\u00e9-C\u0153ur de Montr\u00e9al, les pr\u00e9occupations se multiplient chez\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/QkO2EvodRh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Monsef Derraji (@monsefderraji) April 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI request that the Coll\u00e8ge des m\u00e9decins du Qu\u00e9bec and the Ordre des infirmi\u00e8res et infirmiers du Qu\u00e9bec be officially notified of this situation so that they may promptly assess the actual impact of the DSN rollout on the quality of care, the continuity of services and patient safety,\u201d Derraji urged on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe modernization of the network cannot occur without transparency, without listening to those in the field and without absolute priority given to patient safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec will reduce the number of hospital beds by 104 in the Mauricie and Centre-du-Qu\u00e9bec regions, also to accommodate the DSN deployment.<\/p>\n

Fiset, of Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec, contends such measures are necessary and anyone with an urgent medical problem will be treated.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo allow teams to become familiar with the system, some activities will be temporarily slowed down,\u201d Fiset explained. \u201cThese measures are intended to support the transition, ensure safety, maintain the quality of care and protect critical areas of our organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to reiterate that anyone with an urgent health issue will be cared for, across all sectors,\u201d she added. \u201cService modulations therefore apply only to situations that do not require urgent intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tSant\u00e9 Quebec\u2019s \u2018top-down\u2019 approach\t<\/p>\n

Former health minister Christian Dub\u00e9<\/a> created Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec to run the province\u2019s public medical system more efficiently. But since Genevi\u00e8ve Biron took over the reins of the state corporation in 2024, critics have charged that Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec has over-centralized health care in the province, relying on a top-down management style. Until 2021, Biron had served as CEO of the private, for-profit Biron Health Group.<\/p>\n

Brunet, of the Conseil pour la protection des malades, blamed Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s centralizing approach for many of the DSN\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat they need to do is consult the professional medical organizations that will be involved in these projects so that everybody agrees,\u201d Brunet said. \u201cUnfortunately, most of the time it\u2019s been top-down and then (Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec and the government) ask, \u2018Why is everyone being so critical?’\u201d<\/p>\n

aderfel@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

x.com\/Aaron_Derfel<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

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