(Quebec) The mayors of Montérégie are united so that the Legault government gives the green light to the “global project” and urgent expansion of the Pierre-Boucher hospital in Longueuil, as it did for the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
Nine mayors of the region, including the mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, warn the Legault government which “is preparing to begin necessary work, but which will unfortunately not meet the needs”.
In an open letter published Thursday, elected officials sound the alarm to “avoid a deterioration of health services in the region” while the increase and aging of the population will exert “double pressure” in the years to come on this “pillar of the health network” in Montérégie.
The bill for the “overall project” to expand and modernize the Pierre-Boucher hospital, which includes the addition of 200 hospital beds, easily exceeds a billion dollars.
However, Quebec is proceeding in stages and moving forward with a first phase which is now less important than that announced in 2018 by former Liberal minister Gaétan Barrette.
The Legault government, however, increased the initial envelope from 169 million to 350 million in 2021. Phase 1 provides for the development of new emergencies and a brief hospitalization unit of 24 beds (addition of 6 beds compared to the current situation). Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2026.
“But long before the work began, the pandemic broke out and inflation soared. So much so that to respect the initially allocated budget, the project which is getting underway has been reduced,” write the mayors in their missive. The 2018 project included, among other things, the addition of 52 short-term beds.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The mayor of Varennes and president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec, Martin Damphousse, signed the letter with the mayor of Longueuil, Catherine Fournier, and seven other mayors of Montérégie.
Furthermore, the mayors deplore that the current project does not provide for “any new hospitalization beds – while the current average occupancy level is 104% – nor any development of outpatient services, such as [consultations] external medicine, day medicine or radiology.
“Considering the time it takes to complete a project […] we ask that the government position itself quickly,” recall the nine mayors of Montérégie in the open letter.
Municipal officials are demanding that Quebec authorize the next phase “as soon as possible” by including it in the next Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI), the presentation of which is scheduled for March.
According to an internal document presented to the board of directors of the Pierre-Boucher Hospital Foundation in December 2023, a second phase is estimated at 600 million, which would bring the bill to 950 million.
This second phase, a sort of compromise, would make it possible to add 108 hospitalization beds, we can read in the document consulted by The Press.
However, the estimated needs until 2031 are even greater. The expansion project recognized by the MSSS in 2021 based on changing needs over the period 2026-2031 instead provides for the addition of 206 hospitalization beds, 6 operating rooms, 24 outpatient consultation rooms and several day medicine, chemotherapy and dialysis chairs, write the mayors.
“Even if the urgency to act is glaring, these elements will not be implemented at this stage,” they deplore.
“We are aware of the significant needs at the Pierre-Boucher hospital in order to improve services for the population of Montérégie,” argued the office of the Minister of Health in a statement sent to The Press.
“Now, we agree with those involved in the field that there are still many needs, which is why the new building will be constructed to allow the addition of additional floors. We will continue to work with them to better meet the needs of people in the region,” adds the office of Minister Christian Dubé.
Phase 1 is at the planning stage with the Société québécoise des infrastructures and “professionals are currently developing the concept”, indicated to The Press the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est. These must begin “preliminary plans and specifications in the coming months”.
Towards a “dead end”
Elected officials are not the only ones to stress the urgency of action. The director of professional services of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, Dr André Simard, and the head of the emergency department, Dr Jocelyn Dorado, are also worried about the future of care.
” Three years ago [avec les 350 millions], we created the new emergencies, perhaps some of the care units, there we created the new emergencies and 24 short-term beds. It’s not even the project we had in 2018 with the Dr Barrette”, deplores the Dr Simard.
“We call it a first phase and we have no idea what happens next… We are now in 2024,” he continues.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The Dr André Simard and the Dr Jocelyn Dorado
André Simard and Jocelyn Dorado note that the Pierre-Boucher hospital “no longer has any room for maneuver” having “taken out of the hospital what we could take out” to free up space. From 2017 to 2022, the number of emergency room visits increased by 36%. Hospital beds are overloaded while 29% of emergency room stays last more than 24 hours.
The new emergencies planned in phase 1 are supposed to have 54 stretchers, or 7 more than currently.
We will get through the next winter, but it is in the medium term that we are in a dead end.
The Dr André Simard, director of professional services
The community is demanding that the project be done in a single phase like that of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital.
Due to the explosion in the cost of the project, Minister Dubé had toyed with the idea of proceeding in phases, before changing his mind and confirming the overall project. In this case, the costs of the expansion, estimated at 2.5 billion in 2021, could rise to 5 billion.