Beaudoin reviewed case. |
Terry Yemen, head of the anesthesia department at the Montreal Children's Hospital, has said he will pack up his practice and move back to the U.S. this summer, in part because the Office de la Langue Francaise has threatened to pull his license if he does not pass a French test.
But Beaudoin said yesterday she has reviewed the file and does not feel the Office treated Yemen harshly. She said Yemen's license to practice had been renewed, and in fact he has been allowed until July 2000 to pass a French test.
Yemen did fail a first French test, passing only one of four sections of the test, but his license was renewed anyway because of the public interest.
The doctor has three more chances, over the next three years, to pass the test, and his license will still be renewed if he fails the test this year and next year, the minister said.
"I think he dropped it a bit quickly," Beaudoin said.
Under Quebec's health-care and language laws, all hospitals are required to be able to provide some services in French. Beaudoin said that while the Montreal Children's Hospital does provide services mainly to anglophones, some French-speakers occasionally go there, and its obviously preferable if professionals can communicate with those patients."It's not a fantasy on our part," she said.
The minister said the bar is not set too high for professionals who move to Quebec, noting that 50 per cent of professionals pass the examinations in any given year - and they have several chances to pass the test.
In fact, Yemen has said the language laws were not the only reason for his decision to leave Quebec, but an additional barrier to practice. They were only part of a jumble of red tape and disincentives that makes it less attractive to come to Quebec to practice a specialty.
But Yemen has said Quebec requires incoming specialists to retake specialty exams, regardless of their qualifications, and pays new doctors only 70 per cent of regular fees if they practice in a major city like Montreal.
Yemen also pointed out last night that the attitude of the Office employee who dealt with his case cannot be considered appropriate.
Even though he had taken the required French courses, the Office employee threatened to yank his medical license because she judged his efforts insufficient, Yemen said - and she also questioned why he would have been given a job as a department head.
"This woman told me that she had the right to take away my license if I didn't take things more seriously," he said. "Everyone needs to understand that this stuff goes on and it is just blatant intimidation."
Montreal has a shortage of anesthetists, and Yemen has said that when he leaves the Children's will have only five anesthetists. That is about half the normal number, and well below the 14 the Montreal Regional Health Board considers appropriate for the hospital.