User Transportation

Financial support is granted to users whose health condition meets the criteria for elective cases, namely for medically required and prescribed diagnostic services and treatments not available in the region.

For more details, consult the User Transportation Policy.

In order to get financial support for transportation, meal and accommodation expenses, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must be a resident of the North Shore;
• A physician must have prescribed you services within the public network (insured by the RAMQ) which are not available or accessible in the region;
• The transportation must be toward the closest and most appropriate establishment or facility of the network;
• The other health care establishment must be more than 200 km away;
• Your claim form must be received within 45 days of the transportation;
• The requested consultation cannot be related to a work accident (CNESST), a car accident (SAAQ) or a crime (IVAC). If that is the case, you must refer to the appropriate organization for a possible reimbursement.

For more details, call toll-free 1 833 838-0001 (Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).

The Travel allowance form must be completed by your attending physician, the medical consultant and a territory representative for authorization. The reimbursement procedure as well as the sums granted can be found on the back of this form. The supporting documentation related to accommodation and public transit (airplane, train, bus) must be sent with the form by mail or email: 09.transport.usager@ssss.gouv.qc.ca. 

If you do not attend an appointment, you could have to cover the cost of this transportation or the next transportation required to access health services.

Reimbursed costs

The number of kilometres reimbursed is the round trip distance between the city where the user usually receive care (or their place of residence) and the establishment where they will receive care, minus the 200 km deductible. Amount indexed as of June 7, 2024.

Specific cases

Escort request

The referring physician determines the need for a medical, paramedical, family or social escort during transportation. They can also delegate responsibility to the orientation committee of the policy.

Eligibility criteria

• Minor child (under 18 years old);
• User under protective supervision;
• User with a serious and unstable mental health disorder, or proven and significant dementia, or specific intellectual disability;
• User with limited physical ability requiring constant assistance from at least one person;
• User with serious uncompensated deafness with severe language disorder (dumb, aphasic);
• Situation of personal or social vulnerability in which the normal supervision provided during transportation is not enough to ensure the user’s and others’ safety;
• Uncompensated visual impairment (blind or visually impaired) requiring assistance from someone during transportation;
• The mother’s escort for childbirth.

Any request aimed at meeting exceptional transportation needs not provided in the User Transportation Policy may be submitted to the orientation committee for decision.

In cases where the user would not meet the criteria, but would present important biopsychosocial vulnerability factors, the orientation committee may recommend an escort.

For more details, consult the User Transportation Policy.

Haute-Côte-Nord

As soon as you are referred to a medical specialist, follow these steps:

Your referring physician will give you the signed form. Go to the archives administrative officer to check if the specialty is offered on the North Shore or elsewhere in Québec. She will also check that the place of your appointment with a specialist is more than 200 km away from your place of residence or from the establishment where you receive care. After your appointment, bring back your form, signed by the medical specialist, to the reception of one of our facilities.

Baie-Comeau

Your transportation must be approved before your appointment. Therefore, allow a 48-hour delay to get your preauthorized form to know the eligible financial support.

As soon as you have your transportation allowance form dully signed by your physician, go to the reception of the Hôpital Le Royer to hand in your form for authorization by the establishment. Come back to pick it up at the same place 48 hours later. 

After your appointment, send your form, dully completed and signed, to the address mentioned on the back.

Port-Cartier

Your transportation must be approved before your appointment. Therefore, allow a 48-hour delay to get back your form.

As soon as the date and time of your appointment is confirmed, go to the reception of the 1^st floor to complete your transportation form. Come back to pick it up at the main reception on the ground floor 48 hours later.

After your appointment, send your form, dully completed and signed, to the address mentioned on the back.

Sept-Îles

Your transportation must be approved before your appointment. Therefore, allow a 48-hour delay to get your preauthorized form to know the eligible financial support.

As soon as you have your transportation allowance form dully signed by your physician, go to the registration of the emergency department at the Hôpital de Sept-Îles to hand in your form for authorization by the establishment. Come back to pick it up at the same place 48 hours later.

After your appointment, send your form, dully completed and signed, to the address mentioned on the back.

Minganie

Havre-Saint-Pierre

As soon as the date and time of your appointment is confirmed, go to the reception to complete your transportation form. Come back to pick it up 48 hours later. After your appointment, bring back your signed form at the reception.

CLSC (clinic)

As soon as the date and time of your appointment is confirmed, go to the CLSC (clinic) to complete your transportation form. Come back to pick it up 48 hours later. After your appointment, bring back your signed form at the CLSC (clinic).

Information: 418 538-2212, ext. 542340

Lower North Shore

When you are transferred outside your community for a medical appointment, you must contact a staff member of the transportation department who will organize your travel arrangements based on your appointment date(s) and also prepare the necessary documents.

During normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.): 418-461-2144, option 7

After normal business hours: 418 461-2144; press 0 and leave a message with the receptionnist.

For an appointment in the Québec City area, the establishment in Québec will contact you directly with your appointment. The transportation department does not receive this information, which is only transmitted to users. When you receive the call, please note the date and time of your appointment, the name of the hospital or clinic, the name of the physician and department where you are receiving the service, the entrance you must use to access your appointment and any other relevant information. If the establishment left a message on your voicemail, please call the number they have left you to obtain the above information. Once you have provided the transportation department of the CISSS de la Côte Nord with this information, they will arrange your travel and prepare your transportation papers.

Residents from Blanc-Sablon must pick up their documents at the reception of the Blanc-Sablon hospital. Residents living in other communities must pick them up at the CLSC.

Upon your return, you must hand in the required documents to the Transportation department at the reception of the Blanc-Sablon hospital or at the CLSC. You can also mail them to:

Centrale de transport/Transportation centre
CISSS de la Côte-Nord
1070, boulevard Docteur-Camille-Marcoux
Blanc-Sablon (Québec) G0G 1W0

Important numbers

• Ms. Sharon Tardif, interpreter based in Sept-Îles: 418-965-7621
• Mr. Steve Guimond, liaison officer based in Québec: 418-932-0095 or navigator@qchfoundation.org

Maison Richelieu

The Maison Richelieu is a low-cost residence for non-hospitalized users from the North Shore, namely those living outside the Sept-Îles territory traveling for an examination, a follow-up or a treatment and their parents or escorts. The population served extends from Baie-Comeau to Blanc-Sablon, including Schefferville and L'Île-d'Anticosti. The residence has ten bedrooms with bathroom (six small rooms and four large rooms with kitchenette), one kitchenette and one living room for users in the basement.

465, avenue Franquelin
Sept-Îles (Québec) G4R 2L9
Telephone: 418-962-2720

Fermont

As soon as you receive the date and time of your appointment, contact the medical secretary (418 287-5461, ext. 712100), who will prepare your documents. A 48-hour delay is required. Once the documents are ready, an envelope with your name will be available at the reception of the facility.

You can go to the Tour-Monde travel agency for the organization of your travel by plane. An administrative fee will be charged to you, but you will not have to cover the price of the plane ticket. Otherwise, you can buy your ticket online and the medical rate will be reimbursed to you.

If you travel by car, you will receive the following amounts:

• Baie-Comeau ($188)
• Sept-Îles ($276)
• Québec ($345)
• Rimouski ($224)+ ferry
• Chicoutimi ($306)

To receive your reimbursement, follow the instructions on the back of the transportation form signed by the physician you consulted. Please advise us of any change by calling 418 287-5461, ext. 712100.