Quebec kinesiologists critical of government cutting positions

Quebec kinesiologists are feeling the pinch of the government's health-care cuts and the federation of kinesiologists says that it will affect services in hospitals. (Chris Young / The Canadian Press) (Chris Young/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

While the Quebec Health Ministry is working on a provincial health prevention strategy, kinesiologist positions are being eliminated in the health-care network despite playing an essential role in prevention, they say.

Several months ago, the government mandated Santé Québec to eliminate $1.5 billion in spending to return the network to a balanced budget. Like other health professionals, kinesiologists are feeling the pinch.

Since January, the Quebec kinesiologist federation (FKQ) has calculated that more than 20 positions have been eliminated, including at least eight in home support for seniors at the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent.

There were also 10 job cuts at the Centre d’expertise en maladie chronique at CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, including kinesiologist Valérie Aimé’s position.

Aimé, who has been practicing kinesiology since 2011 and specializes in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, had held a permanent position at CISSS de la Montérégie-Est since April 2023.

Her position will be abolished on March 22, but the date could be postponed “so that there is no disruption of service for patients in progress.”

In addition to Aimé, another kinesiologist and four nutritionists have had their positions eliminated. This team looked after patients in the Sorel, Saint-Hyacinthe and Longueuil regions.

“I find it hard to understand how this won’t directly affect patient service,” said Aimé.

In her day-to-day work, she trains patients who have suffered a heart attack in the past year, and patients living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The education component of her work team, which includes educating people with diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol, for example, will not be affected, only the rehabilitation program, she says.

The FKQ is criticizing the inconsistency of Santé Québec’s job cuts at a time when, in March, Public Health is due to begin consultations on the health prevention strategy. In this context, the kinesiologists federation is calling for a moratorium on strategic job cuts for health prevention.

FKQ President Marc-Antoine Pépin questions the government’s strategy, having received confirmation that the federation will be consulted as part of the National Prevention Strategy.

“We’re making cuts on the one hand, but we’ll be recreating positions in a few months? It’s a bit inconsistent,” he said.

Pépin noted that he had recently met with the Minister of Health’s office to comment on the situation. He said he felt “very well listened to,” and was told that there would be follow-ups to ensure consistency.

Reducing hospital stays

“Kinesiologists can act on many levels of prevention, including mental health, preventing the consequences of chronic diseases and maintaining physical fitness, especially for the elderly. A person who becomes deconditioned will require more care, more resources,” said Pépin.

Kinesiologists working on hospital floors also offer added value to the network, and unfortunately, this service will no longer exist in Montérégie Est, he said.

“These are kinesiologists who work to prevent deconditioning on hospital floors. [...] There have been patients who would normally have been transferred to a CHSLD, but because they benefited from kinesiology treatment during hospitalization, they eventually returned home,” said Aimé. “They proved that they reduced the length of hospitalization. So I’m thinking that if we take this service away, there will be longer hospital stays.”

Particularly for the elderly, the withdrawal of this service can significantly affect their quality of life when they leave hospital.

Since 2021, there has been an explosion in the number of kinesiologists within the health-care network, from around 350 to 693 before the cuts.

Pépin fears that the job cuts will have the effect of breaking this boom. He points out that their practice brings “a new way of working on health,” particularly in prevention.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 20, 2025.

By Katrine Desautels