Quebec confirms start of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital revamp

Quebec will issue a call for tenders this week for the long-awaited Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital modernization project. 

Health Minister Christian Dubé said at a news conference Monday that the project should take eight to 10 years to complete.

The hospital serves nearly a third of the population of Montreal. 

Quebec announced in August 2021 that it would invest $2.5 billion in rebuilding and expanding several sections of the 1950s facility in the city's east end and bring hospital beds available to 720. 

The Société Québécoise des Infrastructures (SQI) later estimated that renovations would cost $4.2 billion, according to documents obtained by Radio-Canada. 

At the news conference, Dubé would only say that construction costs are expected to be about $2 billion, but that the cost of the entire project could easily reach $4 billion. 

"It's an extremely important infrastructure, but it also allows us to get back the workforce that may have deserted Maisonneuve-Rosemont because we didn't have quality infrastructure to make those people want to stay here," he said.

• Get the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.

Acknowledging that there has been a lack of investment in the east end, Dubé said the province plans to open "mini-hospitals" within the next two years to keep emergencies available during renovations and relieve neighbouring hospitals that are treating more patients in need of urgent care. Dubé did not provide details about the mini-hospitals.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said she was happy about the news after listening to "healthy pressure" from citizens calling for a new health facility. 

"It sends a strong message that the east of Montreal is important," she said. "We're going to do projects but we'll take care of what we have already." 

"This summer, we asked other facilities to help at the emergency level, but you can't always push those problems to the other guys," Dubé said. "I think people will appreciate and understand that we're doing the right thing."

Jean-François Fortin Verreault, the CEO of CIUSSS-de-l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal —  the local health authority for eastern Montreal — said the expansion also represents a clinical research and academic investment for the province. 

"It's an integrated project, the relaunch of the east. It's a project carried by the community, and we're extremely proud," Fortin-Verreault said.