(Quebec) Valérie Plante “does not have to worry” about the gradual expansion of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (HMR), assures Minister Christian Dubé. The Minister of Health asks for a little patience as the “business case” for the project is being finalized.
“When the business case is going to be completed, we will announce it. Mme Plante does not have to worry, “said the minister briefly before question period, Wednesday in Quebec.
On Wednesday, the mayoress of Montreal took up the pen to state her concerns in connection with the HMR expansion and modernization project. She asks the Legault government to publicly present “a clear proposal” for the hospital’s “phasing” expansion plan, a scenario that is “concerning” for patient care, according to her. (LINK)
“Mme Plante doesn’t have to worry. We made a commitment to build, to have 720 rooms, we do things rigorously. We followed the steps, we made an opportunity file last year, we chose the site, now the site is very clear. Second step is the business case. When the business file will be completed, we will announce,” added Mr. Dubé.
Minister Dubé did not want to venture on a timetable or quantify the budget. “I don’t want to play on words, it’s very rigorous. We are talking about several billion. I think we have to do things in order, ”he repeated on Wednesday.
The Press recently revealed that the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal was evaluating a much less ambitious expansion scenario, which would include the renovation of the most dilapidated building, the cruciform, to respect the budget envelope of 2.5 billion, announced by Quebec in August 2021.
However, the expansion project would cost $4.2 billion, according to a financial analysis by the Société québécoise d’infrastructures. In the wake of these revelations, Minister Christian Dubé for the first time affirmed that the expansion project would be done “in phases”. He promised to add “the sums necessary to provide 720 beds as planned”, without specifying how many and when.
François Legault is “seriously” considering increasing the investments planned to carry out the project, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said earlier this month after his meeting with the Prime Minister.
“I explicitly asked that phase I be completed in full, that the project not be cut in order to fit into budget parameters that are clearly insufficient for the challenge before us,” he reiterated on Wednesday. .
“Let’s not do things halfway and then regret it for decades, and let’s take stock of the situation in that hospital. Let’s also take the measure of the injustice for the east end of Montreal that we can correct and that we must correct,” continued Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
A schedule without “tattooing”?
The affair rebounded during question period when the supportive deputy for Rosemont, Vincent Marissal, called on Minister Dubé to present a clear plan for the future. “Can the minister make a commitment: a hospital, 720 beds, with the right budget, with a schedule without tataouinage? “, he cursed.
Christian Dubé reaffirmed that the government is completing the business case for the project. “What we asked was, given the complexities, the components of which the member knows very well, of a building that is in tatters, it is absolutely necessary to find a way to build the new hospital in the right way. and rigorous. That’s what we’re doing right now,” replied the minister.
“His answer is nonsense. It was going all over the place. […] Sorry, but the work was done correctly by the CIUSSS, which studied 24 possible sites, they did their homework, we know how many beds it takes, the only glitch is that the CAQ government scratches the pennies because ‘He doesn’t want to spend more,’ lamented the MP for Rosemont in an interview.
The scenario envisaged by the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal to respect the budget announced by Quebec would include redeveloping rooms in the cruciform, an option that we wanted to avoid. It should be understood that renovating the old building, whose main facade is covered with a metal mesh to prevent concrete blocks from coming off, would complicate the construction operations.
Asbestos is also present in the walls. Redeveloping the rooms while strengthening the building will be difficult when patients are likely to still be hospitalized.
“As the government shovels forward and then does not carry out the project, not only are the costs exploding, but these are the patients who do not have access to services”, lamented for his part the interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay.
With Hugo Pilon-Larose