Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital | The development of eastern Montreal at risk, known as Valérie Plante

If they continue, the delays in the file The Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital could undermine the development of eastern Montreal, estimates the mayor Valérie Plante, when the vagueness still persists as to the rest of this nerve megachanter.

Posted at 3:58 p.m.

“Can we imagine the development of a city in a city, because that’s it from Montreal, if we are not even able to offer health care to the population? The answer is no, ”said M on Monday^me Plant, during a meeting of the municipal council. Elected officials unanimously adopted a declaration enjoining Quebec to relaunch the work “as soon as possible”.

Name the upcoming real estate developments and the Eastern Structuring Project (PSE) – a tram that must go to Repentigny -, M^me Plant accused Quebec of “causing a tread”, while the needs are immense. “Considering the state of the current hospital, I would even say that we are retreating,” she noted.

“It jeopardizes all the revitalization projects which are currently in the East,” persisted the mayor of Rivière-des-Prairies-POINTE-AUX-TREMBLES, Caroline Bourgeois, in a press mixture. The new Montreal project manager Luc Rabouin also mentioned this possibility.

In Quebec, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, has been criticized from all sides since he admitted to having announced the construction of the new hospital in a “precipitate” manner. The Minister no longer gives a specific date for the start of the work, but still promised a few weeks ago to “deliver” a project by the end of his present mandate, in 2026.

M^me Plant, it promises to “continue to put pressure so that the Quebec government returns to its decision” “We must submit this enlargement project [à l’agenda] Quickly, right away, as it was planned. It is necessary to give the signal that, not the population of the East will not be penalized. »»

A break point?

Its exit occurred as the CEO of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce, Jean-Denis Charest, and the pulmonologist and intensiveist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital, and the D^r Marc Brosseau, were passing through the town hall.

“The more we postpone the project, the less we will be able to meet the needs of the population,” said the D^r Brosseau, notably evoking that many unveiled rooms “pose a risk of infection”. The situation also has an impact on staff retention, especially since several other Montreal hospitals have been renovated. “We suffer from the comparison. »»

Jean-Denis Charest says that uncertainty is harming business. “To convince people to come and invest” in the East will be “difficult” if the Maisonneuve-Rosemont enlargement project does not quickly go ahead, according to him. His group anticipates up to 200,000 new dwellings in the east by 2050.

Since last week, the Foundation of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital has already circulated a petition demanding an “immediate intervention” of the government to avoid a “breakdown”.

The Montreal overall heads, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, also calls on Quebec to review her decision. She also claims that studies should be launched now for the construction of a second hospital center in the east of the metropolis.

“It is almost the same population as [la ville de] Quebec, which has five hospitals, ”she noted. If Montrealers elect him in November, the former federal minister undertakes to repatriate the eastern files to the office of the mayor of the metropolis.

The vagaries linked to Maisononneuve-Rosemont could have been avoided by working more “in partnership” with the government, says M^me Martinez Ferrada. It accuses the administration plants to have been too “in reaction with Quebec” in several files in recent years.