After pressure and protests, upgrades at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital will start this year
CAQ goverment was facing intense criticism following storm that knocked out power at hospital
Under mounting pressure, the Coalition Avenir Québec government (CAQ) now says the long-awaited major renovation project at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (HMR) will be able to begin some time this year.
With the CAQ reining in spending in sectors like health and education due to budgetary constraints, the renovations at the eastern Montreal hospital — as well as several other government projects — have been postponed.
The criticisms over delaying the work at Maisonneuve-Rosemont reached a peak last week after a violent storm knocked out power at the hospital and left the intensive care unit and surgery block in the dark for more than an hour due to failing generators.
The outage also delayed operations and caused some patients who were in intensive care to be transferred to the emergency room.
Last Wednesday, a day after the storm, doctors and nurses at the hospital held a protest to implore the Quebec government to fast-track renovations at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.
The CAQ's plan to begin the renovations this year was first reported Tuesday by La Presse before being confirmed by Radio-Canada sources. The plan will be submitted Wednesday morning during a meeting with other provincial cabinet ministers.
According to the province's Health Ministry, which confirmed the details of this plan, the CAQ government has found a way to reallocate the $19 billion it has at its disposal for major infrastructure projects in order to begin work at the hospital this year. These projects are part of what is known in French as the Plan québécois des infrastructures, or PQI.
The CAQ's budgetary manoeuvres are expected to unlock a sum of $85 million needed to launch the first phase of the renovations, which would focus on the hospital's parking lot and turning it into a multi-storey car park. The government is also expected to have money to help speed up about 30 other projects that are still in the planning phase.
"I want to reassure everyone: we have the money that's needed for the project," Health Minister Christian Dubé told reporters on Tuesday.
It's been reported that the renovation project for the hospital would cost about $5 billion. When given a chance to confirm that number on Tuesday, Dubé sidestepped the question.
A parking lot — not a hospital, opposition MNA says
Members of opposition parties banded together on Tuesday to criticize the Legault government, which has promised to renovate the hospital for about three years.
They held a joint news conference with members of the newly formed HMR coalition — made up of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital foundation, physicians at the hospital, union leaders and other groups who have been clamouring for the renovation project to be fast-tracked.
Vincent Marissal, the Québec Solidaire MNA for the Rosemont riding where the hospital is located, pointed out that $85 million is just a fraction of the total expected cost of renovating the hospital.
"A parking lot is necessary but a hospital is essential," Marissal said, standing next to Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and André Fortin, the Quebec Liberal Party's health critic.
Dubé said he expects work on the multi-storey car park to last about 18 months, and he said that work will make it easier to begin the next phases of the project.
Last week, the minister said his government had devoted so much money to projects that are currently underway — the new hospital in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., for example — that they lack the funds for new projects.
"We're going to find a solution in the coming weeks," he said at the time. "Even with the very tight budgets that we have, we're working on a solution."
Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital was built in 1954.
It provides treatment to more than 500,000 Montrealers from birth until death. The hospital also provides care to people outside the region, given its expertise in treating blood cancers.
The Quebec government is also planning to speed up renovations at the Hôtel-Dieu d'Arthabaska Hospital in Victoriaville in the Centre-du-Québec region. That hospital is located in the Arthabaska riding, where a byelection election will take place at some point in the coming months.
Sainte-Croix Hospital, located in Drummondville, is also in a decrepit state.
On Tuesday, the health minister scoffed at the notion that the decision to renovate the facility in Arthabaska was a political one.
"When it comes to hospitals, one thing I've said we won't do is play politics," Dubé said.
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With files from Radio-Canada's Sébastien Bovet and CBC National Assembly reporter Cathy Senay