Private mini-hospitals | While waiting for the call for tenders… and the details

(Quebec) Ten private sector groups in the health field have raised their hands to develop the mini-hospitals promised during the electoral campaign by the Legault government. They will have to be patient since the call for tenders should “normally” be published in winter 2024.

In total, nine companies and an “association” of partners responded to Quebec’s second call for interest, confirmed the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). Of the number, three groups have expressed interest for the first time, it was reported.

After launching a first call in March, the Ministry carried out a second similar exercise during the summer to “have a better understanding of the issues linked to the establishment of mini-hospitals” and to specify the services to be “provided to users of the targeted territories”.

This made it possible to refine the list of candidate companies since 17 promoters had responded to the initial call for interest, the office of the Minister of Health indicated at the time.

Interviews have also taken place over the last few days with the actors who have maintained their interest. “It was a meeting where those responsible for the project asked questions to clarify our proposal,” summarizes Rémi Boulila, owner of the Mieux-Être medical center, who submitted a project for Montreal.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government has promised to open two “private medical centers” by 2025, one in the east of Montreal, the other in the National Capital, “to meet the need for intermediate service between the family medicine group (GMF) and the hospital”.

To date, the care and services that will be offered in these new private establishments have not yet been clearly defined. The Press reported in June that the concept is more akin to a “large clinic” since the presence of an operating room is no longer a given.

The Montreal site should nevertheless include an outpatient clinic in geriatrics and that of Quebec, in pediatrics. “The meetings with suppliers aim to better define the services that will be offered in mini-hospitals,” writes the MSSS in an email to The Press.

Mr. Boulila also had questions for the Ministry, he said. “Where are they and when can we start”, he lists in an interview, adding that he has not received “clear answers” ​​from them “because the process is not yet finished “.

“We are already ready”

Quebec explains that the details of the projects will be specified in the calls for tenders, which “normally should be published in winter 2024”. This could therefore occur almost a year after the first call for interest, published in March 2023.

“I think you have to be realistic. When you want to implement something that is this new, this big, you have to do it well. I’m not surprised,” expressed the President and CEO of the MAClinique Network, Dr.^D Chantal Guimont.

“Would I hope it would be sooner?” Yes. […] We would have been ready to go to a call for tenders last spring when the call for interest came out,” adds the woman who confirms having submitted a proposal for the Capitale-Nationale sector.

The story is similar on Mr. Boulila’s side: “We are already ready on our side. Our plans are made, the building is available. If we had had a call for tenders in October, we could have responded to it, started the real process with an opening in 2024, if not in spring 2024.”

The director of medical affairs of Groupe Santé Sedna, D^r François Loubert believes that this delay will give the MSSS “time to benefit from all the exchanges” with the promoters. “That seems like a reasonable timetable to me,” he said in an interview.

The Sedna Health Group, which submitted a proposal for the east of Montreal, also welcomes the approach of the Ministry, which first proceeded by call for interest, which “will allow us to have a richer solution “.

According to Mr. Loubert, the project is a “hybrid” between the medical clinic and a mini-hospital which would be “very oriented towards elderly clients”. Mr. Boulila, for his part, mentions “a 24/7 site, all year round, where we will find a continuous population offer”.

M^me Guimont confirms that the pediatric component is “very supported” in its project and prefers not to say more for the moment.

The three groups consulted by The Press all indicated that they were waiting to read the call for tenders to adjust their proposals.

In the office of Minister Christian Dubé, we maintain the commitment that the mini-hospitals will be “operational” in 2025. “It is an important project and, to get there, we are following all the steps in order,” said we underlined in a declaration.

“Quebecers want more services and better access, and this is at the heart of the project we are building at the moment,” we wrote. We remind you that “this new model does not currently exist” and that “the priority is to improve access to care for Quebecers”.