Montreal mayor calls for clear renovation plan for Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital
The mayor of Montreal is imploring the provincial government for clarity on the future of Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital, where extensive renovations are planned.
Valérie Plante agrees the hospital needs major work, but she wants to know how patients will get care at the hospital while it is under construction, she says in an open letter published in the Journal de Montréal Wednesday.
"Nearly a third of the Montreal population is served by this hospital," she said in the letter.
With the light-rail network coming and the Metro's Blue line extension in the works, she said the need for the hospital will only get greater.
"First, a clear proposal must be presented publicly to demonstrate what impact the phased works will have on services," she said.
"Secondly, for our administration, it is essential that Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital be expanded, because the truth is that the needs will increase in the coming years."
In a later interview with CBC News, she said there not only has to be a clear plan, but the half million people the hospital serves must be reassured that services will not be disrupted.
"To me, at this point, it's about making sure the population in the east end gets the services they need," Plante said.
No reason to worry, health minister says
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé, speaking during question period at the National Assembly Wednesday, there is no reason to worry.
"She knows that this hospital is important for us," he said. "Ms. Plante knows this."
Dubé declined to go into details about the government's plan to keep the hospital operational during the construction phase.
Quebec announced in the summer of 2021 that it was going to modernize the hospital, investing more than $2.5 billion into reconstructing and enlarging several sections of the aged facility in the city's east end — bringing the total beds available up to 720.
The Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) later estimated the project would cost $4.2 billion.
According to the local health agency, the CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal, construction should begin next year and everything will be completed by 2029.
When the health minister made the announcement, he said investment in hospital infrastructure will attract health-care workers to the public system and keep them working there.
Not everyone on board with renovation
Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at the hospital, said the province shouldn't be renovating the old hospital in the first place as it is full of asbestos.
"You want to renovate that with everyone working there? This is a big challenge," he said.
It would be easier and likely safer to just build a new building, he said. And at this point, the need is immediate, he added.
In mid-January, the hospital's understaffed emergency room was overflowing with patients.
Ambulances were diverted away, extra beds were rolled in, and staff was brought in from other departments to cover shifts. This action was taken after many ER nurses, overworked and exhausted, stopped showing up for their shifts or walked off the job in protest of mandatory overtime.
Mélissa Bellemare dit Loof, co-ordinator of the hospital's users' committee, said her group has been asking for a new hospital for a decade now.
"We need a new hospital. We cannot just renovate the hospital that is there now," she said.
"I cannot even imagine being a patient on one floor while there's construction happening on another floor."
But the decision to renovate the old hospital has already been made, the health minister said, and the government will be tackling this project in stages.
He described Maisonneuve-Rosemont as a flagship hospital for Montreal's east end and said the project has "dragged on for too long." He said previous governments made unrealistic promises.
"We're going to deliver the goods, but the job has to be done correctly and that's what we're doing right now," he said.
