Quebec's health minister says allowing a patient to use her health insurance card to pay for an operation in a private clinic in Montreal is good news for the population.

The arrangement, which was made because of chronic staff shortages at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital, is a "very important milestone in the history of Canadian health care," said health minister Philippe Couillard.

The deal illustrates how the private sector can be used for good in the public health system, he said. "What should be sacred is not the system. It's the values and the principles."

"The principle is whether you're rich or poor, you should have the same access to care".

The agreement will allow a 77-year old woman to undergo a partial mastectomy at the Rockland MD private clinic in the Town of Mount-Royal, on the island of Montreal.

The hospital rented the clinic for the day and scheduled at least four hernia operations.

The operating room and staff will be paid for by the province and the woman's operation will not cost more than if it were done in a hospital, Couillard said.

The clinic and the hospital have a six-month agreement that makes an operating room in the clinic available two times a week.

The hospital will deliver surgeons, anesthesiologists and patients, and the clinic will provide the operating room and nurses.

A small group of protestors affiliated with political group Québec Solidaire picketed the clinic on Wednesday.

They're concerned the private clinic arrangement hijacks public health care funds.

"Little by little the private sector drains considerable resources," said party spokesman Amir Khadir, who is also a practicing physician. "We don't need that."

But the deal will alleviate growing waiting lists for day procedures at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital, said Dr. Ronald Denis, head of surgery.

"It will help solve the problem because we have more than 1,500 on the waiting list for short-stay surgery," he said.

The province is still working on finding better ways to manage surgery waiting lists, Couillard said.

With files from the Canadian Press