Dozens of patients of Cree origin, who were staying in a hotel in downtown Montreal to receive health care, were evicted to free up rooms for tourists, in the middle of the Grand Prix weekend.
The Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay (CCSSSBJ) has an agreement with the Espresso Hotel to accommodate patients who need to receive health care in Montreal, according to what The duty confirmed with multiple sources.
Several patients of aboriginal origin had to give up their hotel rooms to tourists during the day on Wednesday. They have been relocated to other hotels, as well as to Hôtel-Dieu, a former hospital converted into a shelter for homeless people, even though these Cree patients are in no way homeless.
For this Grand Prix weekend, rooms are offered at $572 for the night from Saturday to Sunday on the Hotel Espresso website.
The CCSSSBJ confirmed the movement of patients, in a press release published Thursday morning. The organization explains that the patients and their companions had to be relocated due to a lack of rooms in Montreal.
Vulnerable patients, including those on dialysis, cannot return to James Bay because of the raging forest fires there.
According to the press release, patients have also been relocated to other hotels in the metropolitan area, particularly in Terrebonne. The CBHSSJB specifies providing them with food and transportation.
The CBHSSJB will reassess the condition of the patients this Friday to determine if some can return to their community, it said in its press release.
On video: Clifford Mianscum, one of the relocated Cree patients, gives a tour of the facilities in which he is at the Hôtel-Dieu.
Further details will follow.