Quebec policy to alleviate overcrowding of emergency rooms

In the Province of Quebec, the overcrowding of hospital emergency wards has been a problem since the mid-seventies. In 1986, the Quebec government ado pted a vast plan to correct the situation. The relative failure of the plan led to the adoption of a new policy in 1990, later modified in 1993. In th is paper, we study the recurring emergence, formulation and implementation of Quebec policy towards emergency ward overcrowding. This study is based o n an extended version of the model put forward by Kingdon to explain how so me public problems appear on a government agenda while others are left asid e. We contend that Kingdon's extended model is helpful to further our under standing of the policy process towards emergency wards in Quebec.