(Quebec) Mayor Valérie Plante is asking the Legault government to publicly present “a clear proposal” for its expansion plan “by phasing” of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont (HMR) hospital. A “worrying” scenario for patient care, according to her.
The mayoress of Montreal takes up her pen on Wednesday to state her concerns in connection with the HMR expansion and modernization project. The situation there is “highly worrying” when it is a “crucial hospital in the east of Montreal”.
“The state of the hospital requires major work and investments to ensure its sustainability, and these cannot be done at the expense of the provision of health care,” wrote Mayor Plante in an open letter published in the Montreal Journal.
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.
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.
Prime Minister François Legault also said in an interview with Radio-Canada that his government was currently examining the project’s cost overruns.
Although Mayor Plante says she is “reassured” to see that the parties agree to “guarantee a budget that meets the real need for beds and space”, she asks the Legault government to present a complete plan of the work to to come.
“A clear proposal must be presented publicly to demonstrate to what extent the phasing work will have an impact on services,” said Mayor Plante.
Valérie Plante claims to have reported her request to Minister Dubé as well as to the Minister responsible for the Metropolis, Pierre Fitzgibbon
Fear of “break in service”
It is that the scenario of renovating part of the cruciform to redevelop rooms there – an option which creates internal turmoil, according to our information –, is also considered worrying by the mayor.
“The proposal to proceed with the deconstruction of the contaminated building while patients will be cared for on other floors of the same site is worrying”, she underlines in her letter.
Valérie Plante also took stock with the management of the CIUSSS de l’Est last week.
“We were able to measure all the complexity of the work required, in addition to the urgent considerations to be measured concerning the activities of the hospital. We cannot afford a break in service in the only health center in eastern Montreal,” she warns.
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.
“All avenues of solutions must be explored to guarantee a viable future for Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, its staff and its patients,” added the mayor in another passage.
In her letter, Valérie Plante points out that nearly a third of the Montreal population is served by the HMR and that the needs will increase over the next few years.
“In comparison, the hospital covers a territory corresponding to that of Quebec City, which can count on 4 different hospitals to serve an equivalent population,” she argues.
More than 20,000 new homes in the East of Montreal could be built with the extension of the blue line and the construction of the REM de l’Est, estimates the City of Montreal.