Shariyfa Nurse reached CJAD 800 via Your Story to report that her son was asked to sign consent forms before being admitted into the Verdun Hospital's emergency room, despite not being able to understand them because they were only in French.
When Nurse returned to the hospital the next day to ask for English forms, a secretary told her they weren't available.
"She said the Quebec government does not send any documents to the Verdun Hospital in English," Nurse said. Following the conversation, she filed a complaint with the complaints commissioner with the Health and Social Services Department, where she got a very terse answer.
"I was told this is a French province; Verdun Hospital is not required to give me documents in English, it's the law," she said.
Spokesperson for Centre-Sud regional health board (CIUSSS), Jean-Nicolas Aubé, tells CJAD 800 that although that information is accurate, there is always someone on staff that will translate.
"Verdun Hospital is not a designated English hospital. That means we don't have the obligation to give all our services in English." says Aubé. "With that said, the consent form that was given to the user will be translated — it was already planned to be translated and will soon be available in English."
Aubé adds it's a part of the CIUSSS Centre-Sud English health access program — a program that is offered even though Verdun Hospital is not a considered a "designated" hospital.