Lachine Hospital cuts ambulance service, spurring doctors' warnings

Ambulance service to the Lachine Hospital on Montreal's West Islandhas been severed, but some doctorsare warning that the cutback could havedire consequences.

Doctorsat the hospital said they were informed of the decision when the service was stopped on Wednesday, without being consulted in advance.

"They sent us a brief memo [Wednesday] and it basically said even unstable patients are going to be refused service to the emergency room despite the fact that we're able to handle the critically ill, including those who are having a heart attack, respiratory distress, severe asthma and distress," said Dr. Paul Saba, thehead of the council of physicians at Lachine.

Patients that would normally have been transported by ambulance to Lachine will now be rerouted to the Lakeshore General Hospital or the Montreal General Hospital.

But Saba condemned the rerouting,warning thatthe extra time it takes could endanger the health of patients.Those who require the use of an ambulance are usually in bad shape and need immediate medical assistance, he pointed out.

"They're going to have to go to Lakeshore, which can take 20 minutes or they're going to have to go downtown, which can easily take 20 to 30 minutes during peak hours."

For some time now, Lachine has been cutting back on costs and services and shifting responsibilities to the nearby LaSalle Hospital, which is run by the same board.

Administrators said the most recent cutback makes sense because there is no longer a radiologist on call at night and the hospital typically gets only one ambulance a day at its door.

Saba called the lack of a radiologista poor excuse.

"Today someone in India or Vancouver can read your scan."