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MONTREAL — The Coalition Avenir Québec promised Saturday to build a pair of private medical centres that would provide services that would be free to Quebecers and reimbursed by medicare in an attempt to ease overflowing public emergency rooms.
“If we want to change the health network, well, we have to change the recipe, we have to innovate,” Legault said. Legault said using the word"private" when it comes to health care is"delicate," but noted that 20 per cent of services in the province are already provided by the private sector. The CAQ promise was denounced by political rivals, with Quebec solidaire's co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois saying if private involvement really worked in health care, there would already be plenty of examples.
The Conservative Party of Quebec has also promised to make more room for private health care as part of its plan. But Legault said Saturday's promise had"nothing to do with what is happening in the other parties" and the CAQ believes the emergency room is too often the main point of entry for patients.