2023-11-29 08:01:06
The Côte-Nord Health Center presented on Tuesday the first sketches of its major expansion project, of which the construction of the new block might begin as early as next year, while the issue of parking spaces remains unresolved.
On this subject, citizens are ready to sacrifice their city hall to end a debate that has lasted for 4 years.
Around forty people attended the presentation by the Côte-Nord Health Center.
On paper, the project is very advanced. The plans and specifications will be ready in December. The new block will be built at the corner of Dequen and Père-Divet streets. It will occupy the entirety of the hospital’s largest parking lot. At street level is the emergency room and intensive care unit. Above, the operating room, endoscopy and bronchoscopy services will be set up. The upper floor will be devoted to sterilization and mechanical equipment.
This project will quadruple the surface area of the emergency room, which will go from a capacity of 10 open stretchers to 14 closed stretchers. The surface area of the operating theater will be tripled and that of intensive care, doubled.
“Some ministers came by and even let us know that our emergency was among the most outdated they had ever seen,” said Jean-François Labelle, director of professional services and university education.
“This is not a vision or a perception of our existing teams. It’s really an emergency that dates from the 80s, made from the standards of the 70s. So, we are 50 years behind current standards.”
By sacrificing its largest parking lot and to adjust to growing demand, the hospital is looking for new spaces. Between 154 and 254. The city hall land which is located just a few steps from the entrance to the future emergency is the preferred option. As proof, discussions for a possible transaction between the City of Sept-Îles and the Société québécoise des infrastructures have been going on for several years. If citizens wish to preserve city hall for its architectural value, the majority of those who attended the presentation are prepared to sacrifice it.
Parking spaces might be provided elsewhere. The option of building a two-story parking lot is not excluded, insists the president and CEO of the CISSS de la Côte-Nord Manon Asselin.
“We must have parking lots. So, we have to find a solution,” she told TVA Nouvelles. Asked regarding the possible functionality problems of the project if the future parking lot is not built on the city hall grounds, she replied: “I want to deliver a hospital worthy of the name to the population of Sept-Îles and of the eastern North Shore.
The project will be presented for approval by the Council of Ministers next spring. The CISSS de la Côte-Nord hopes to construct this project between 2024 and 2026.
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