(Quebec) After making an about-face by choosing Lévis rather than Quebec to establish a private geriatric mini-hospital, the Legault government will announce another project for the Capitale-Nationale, which will also be private, but whose mission will be different.
CAQ MP Youri Chassin, who is leading the project for the government, confirmed the information on Wednesday. “It gives me the opportunity to have a third project rather than just two, and there, perhaps adjust it differently. This is what we would like to announce together,” he said in the press scrum.
During the electoral campaign, the Coalition Avenir Québec promised to build two private mini-hospitals by 2025, one in the Capitale-Nationale, which was to have a pediatric component, and the other, in the East of Montreal, with a specialization in geriatrics. After issuing two calls for interest, it was confirmed this spring that the project would ultimately take the form of geriatric clinics.
A call for tenders piloted by the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches and which provides for an establishment in the Alphonse-Desjardins sector, in Lévis, was published on Tuesday.
The CAQ elected officials of Chaudière-Appalaches rejoiced on Wednesday at the government’s choice while the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, left the door open for the project to land in Quebec.
“What we said is that we want the call for tenders to be applicable to the greater Quebec region. What matters is that we asked an establishment, Chaudière-Appalaches, to lead the process. For me, there is nothing to stop yet. Is it going to be in Lévis, Saint-Georges-de-Beauce or Quebec? For me, it’s the greater Quebec region,” explained Mr. Dubé.
“We can’t rule out having one in Quebec. For now there was an opportunity to have one on the South Shore. But we do not rule out having one in Quebec,” declared François Legault.
We now understand that the government has a third project up its sleeve for the National Capital. An announcement must be made by the end of parliamentary work.
“I deliver 50% more than what I was asked for,” rejoiced Mr. Chassin, a former member of the Montreal Economic Institute (IEDM), a right-wing think tank in favor of the private sector in health.
According to Mr. Chassin, the presence of a geriatric HUB in Quebec influenced the choice to favor Lévis. “The geriatricians, in Capitale-Nationale, are already in a project, I wouldn’t say similar, but in the same sense, it’s the geriatric HUB, it’s in the public,” he explained.
The Capitale-Nationale project would have a purpose other than geriatrics. “There is going to be something in Quebec, a mini-hospital in… I will let the minister make the announcements, but the Quebec project is not impacted by what is happening in Lévis,” Minister Éric said. Cairo, which represents the constituency of La Peltrie.
Debates within the caucus
The choice of Lévis was presented to elected officials from Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches last week. The announcement of a third project for Quebec made it easier to pass the pill, we were told.
The MP for Vanier-Les Rivières, Mario Asselin, stressed Wednesday that the Capitale-Nationale “would not give up.” Furthermore, according to him, the Lévis project is “too far” for customers from his region to travel there.
“It’s an excellent thing. This will allow us to offer more services to the population, more health services to the population, it is a new formula, a new way of doing things,” argued for his part Minister Bernard Drainville, elected from Lévis.
Beauce-Nord MP Luc Provençal said the Chaudière-Appalaches MPs had argued that they wanted their region to be “considered” in the process. “This is very good news, if we are able to improve the service offering, I consider that to be excellent,” he said.
With Charles Lecavalier, The Press