A Chateauguay mom will have to spends thousands of dollars a year and commute to Montreal to get private speech therapy for her young son because she was told she can't get medicare-covered services in English close to home.
Alyssa Flynn said her local CLSC told her they had no speech therapy in English, that the waiting list for French services was 22 months long and that in the meantime she could teach French to her two-year-old son who has speech delay problems.
"That's ridiculous. He's already having problems learning a first language," said Flynn who got in touch via yourstory@cjad.com.
Flynn faced a four year waiting list at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Flynn decided not to waste time -her son sees a private therapist in Côte-St-Luc as of next Saturday.
"That's almost $6000 for a year of just speech therapy, which as a single mom, $6000 is almost a fifth of my salary," Flynn told CJAD 800 News.
Language issue aside, Flynn said the whole situation is unacceptable.
"Having to wait that long is not normal, that his development will become even worse if he has to wait until he's four years old to have to be getting these services that he should be getting now," said Flynn.
Geoffrey Chambers, vice -president of the Quebec Community Groups Network representing English-speaking community groups said it's a tragic situation but also a typical one in the healthcare system.
"These people have civil rights, they pay taxes, they're entitled to have government services," said Chambers.
The health and social services agency for Montérégie West said in an email to CJAD 800 News that there are such services in English in Vaudreuil-Soulanges which also has a long waiting list but Flynn said no one told her that.
The agency said they'll remind staff to inform potential patients. They are also looking for a bilingual speech therapist to serve the area.
The Quebec minister for public health declined to comment.
The whole experience has left Flynn frustrated and...
"Stressed. I'm trying to do the best for my son and it's hard when you're not getting the help that you think that you should from people who should be helping you."