Montreal leaders are urging the Quebec government to move forward with the long-delayed modernization and expansion of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, warning further delays and cuts could affect patient care and increase costs.
Doctors, business leaders and politicians gathered Friday to call on the province to accelerate the redevelopment project for the aging hospital in Montreal’s east end.
Related:
“We’re hoping that the Maisonneux-Rosemont Hospital is reconstructed as soon as possible without any cuts,” said Dr. Marc Brosseau, a pulmonologist and intensivist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and president of the CMDPSF.
The hospital modernization and expansion project has already been revised downward several times over the past five years. It is now subject to a 15 per cent revision imposed on projects in planning under the Quebec Infrastructure Program.
Brosseau said the hospital’s aging infrastructure is already creating serious challenges for staff and patients.
“Last year a parking was announced which was the first stage indeed, but the rest of the project did not advance,” he said. “It was actually put on pause with further cuts in the final project plan. This is a scandal in itself. We need to proceed with the hospital as quickly as possible. The conditions that we work in are not adequate for our 21st century hospital.”
He pointed to recurring elevator problems during critical patient transfers, shared rooms, ventilation issues and even water damage in parts of the facility.
“This in itself should not happen in the hospital and that’s why it needs to be improved as quick as possible,” said Brosseau.
Some leaders say the redevelopment project now faces another round of cuts under Quebec’s infrastructure planning process.
“In the last six months we’ve worked more in training to cut the project than advancing it,” said Jean-Denis Charest, president and CEO of the Eastern Montreal Chamber of Commerce. “At this stage of the project we’ve been working on it since 2018. The optimization has been done and what we’re doing right now is delaying the Maisonneux-Rosemont project generating extra cost and making at risk the respect of the calendar that we have requested.”
Business leaders say continued delays could drive up costs and erode public confidence in the project.
“We ask the government put $300 million in the budget for the next year,” said Charest. “We ask the government to recognize all the optimization that have been done over the years at Maisonneuve-Rosemont and not ask the project to cut another extra 15 per cent. And we ask to be in the PQE with a very, very clear calendar how much money per year to make sure that we will be able to realize that project within a framework of eight years.”
Opposition politicians also voiced support for moving the redevelopment forward.
“We’re here to support the coalition so that this hospital can be renovated and have a better access for all Quebecers and mostly for Montrealers because it serves close to 26 per cent of the population of Montreal, but it also serves the population in Lanaudière, Laurentides, even as far as Abitibi-Témiscamingue,” said Quebec Liberal Party Leader Charles Milliard.
With Quebec’s next provincial budget expected soon, those backing the project say they hope the government will commit to a clear funding timeline.
“We’re hoping that there are no cuts to the project that would affect the quality of care and that the project moves as fast, totally as fast as possible,” said Brosseau.
