2023-06-06 05:18:43
(Quebec) Solidarity MNA Vincent Marissal is concerned regarding the postponement of the announcement of the budget and the timetable for the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital expansion project, which Minister Christian Dubé has pledged to carry out in one single phase of 720 beds.
The MNA for Rosemont has been furious since learning last week that the Minister of Health will not finally announce the next steps for this vast infrastructure project, which has been awaited for years in the east, until the summer. from Montreal.
“I am sincerely frustrated with the situation because in addition, I had decided to give the runner a chance from the moment the minister told me in credits that it was decided […] and that the announcement would come somewhere in the spring or early summer,” laments the MP in an interview with The Press.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Vincent Marissal
The Minister of Health affirmed during the study of the provisional appropriations last March that “the confirmation of the amount” of the expansion project of the dilapidated hospital would be done “in the coming weeks”. Mr. Dubé then said that he would like this to be done “within a month or two”.
“The business case is beginning to be advanced enough to be able to make this commitment,” maintained the Minister.
Development continues
Later in April, Mr. Dubé went further by confirming that he was discarding the “phased” construction scenario and carrying out the project in a single phase. He then added that “the commitment to have an answer, in the month of May, for a hospital with 720 rooms” was going to be respected.
Also in April, during the study of credits, he also argued that the schedule for the work should also be specified “in the coming weeks”.
However, the minister has maintained his commitment, his cabinet responds today, which explains that “the announcement was made to the teams” in place.
“The Minister met with the CEO [du CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal]as well as the medical teams of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital in order to confirm to them that the project would be done in a single phase with the 720 beds, as it had been committed to, ”we indicated in a statement sent Monday.
As for financing and the timetable, the development of the “business case” is ongoing, it was explained without setting a date.
A growing budget
For its part, the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal maintains that it is awaiting “a decision from the Council of Ministers” and “to continue to evaluate several scenarios” for the project.
Minister Christian Dubé had confirmed a budget of 2.5 billion in an initial announcement in August 2021. A year later, a financial analysis by the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) estimated that the 720-bed project would cost 4 ,2 billion.
It is certain that Quebec will revise its funding upwards, but we still do not know the value of the new envelope.
The Legault government must deal with the explosion in the costs of several infrastructure projects, such as seniors’ homes or the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, due to overheating in the construction industry and the galloping inflation.
What remains to be confirmed is how much, what and when.
Vincent Marissal, MP for Québec solidaire
It should be noted that the Maisonneuve-Rosemont modernization project also provides for the reconstruction of several current sectors of the hospital and its expansion, on the present site.
QS fears a “remake” of the CHUM
The MNA for Rosemont affirms that Minister Dubé would have indicated to him on the sidelines of the detailed study of Bill 15 on his health reform that the budget and the timetable for the project might be confirmed “by the end of the year” or “at best, in the fall”. Information that Mr. Dubé’s office does not want to comment on since it is a private discussion.
“He’s a villain remake of the film that we saw on the CHUM or the blue line… from report to report, and we end up with terrible delays”, fears Mr. Marissal.
The office of Mr. Dubé affirms for its part that it is “a priority” of the government to make the hospital more attractive, to promote the retention of staff and to make “the patient experience optimal”.
Vincent Marissal is considering reviving the cross-party coalition, also bringing together medical personnel, who campaigned in May 2021 to accelerate the deployment of the project.
The member had planned to do so this winter following the revelations of The Press wanting that Quebec was evaluating a less ambitious expansion scenario to respect the initial budget envelope, which would have entailed the renovation of the most dilapidated part, the cruciform.
Mr. Marissal had put this initiative on ice following Minister Dubé’s commitments this spring.
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