The Coalition for an accessible and sustainable hospital center in the Outaouais (CCHADO) is so concerned that it requested, at the end of the day, Monday, an “emergency meeting” with the Minister of Public Services and Procurement of Canada (PSPC), Jean-Yves Duclos. The coalition says it has sources familiar with the matter who confirm that the Quebec government is preparing to ask the federal government to transfer the land from the Asticou Center to build its future regional hospital.
Le Droit was not able to confirm that Quebec has chosen the Asticou Center site to build the future hospital, but the rumor is indeed circulating. However, it was possible to confirm with the federal government that a transaction is imminent between Ottawa and Quebec. According to our information, the Quebec government must get its hands on a large part of the Asticou Center site, while the National Capital Commission (NCC) will protect the wooded parts of the site.
“The transaction involving the government of Quebec will affect the Asticou Center, as well as its parking lot and grassy areas,” confirmed Guillaume Bertrand to Le Droit, the spokesperson for Minister Duclos. The rest will go to the NCC which has confirmed its intention to protect green spaces, particularly wooded areas.”
The agreement in principle would not mention any financial costs for the Quebec government. The council of ministers should decide at its meeting on Wednesday in Quebec. The announcement regarding the choice of the hospital site could take place on Thursday. The minister responsible for Outaouais, Mathieu Lacombe, declined to comment.
A source familiar with the matter at the federal government, however, assures us that a transaction is about to be concluded between the provincial and federal governments. Quebec would get its hands on most of the Asticou Center site along Cité-des-Jeunes Boulevard. The National Capital Commission (NCC) would conserve the wooded areas of the nearby Gatineau Park. (Patrick Woodbury/Archives Le Droit)
CCHADO spokesperson Patrick Robert-Meunier believes that the Quebec government is on the verge of making a decision that will go against the wish widely disseminated by civil society which calls for a hospital in a central site. He asks the federal government not to be complicit in such an error.
“This decision would go against the needs and expectations of our community,” writes Mr. Robert-Meunier in his letter sent to Minister Duclos and including The right got a copy. If the federal government proceeded with this transfer without consultation, it would create a striking contrast with the efforts invested by the federal government for the new Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital. Such a decision would represent a significant imbalance and an incredible lack of consideration for French-speaking patients.”
Doctors speak out
Health professionals have until now been essentially absent from the debate on the choice of the site of the future hospital center. The Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME), however, has just added its voice to the many others brought together by the coalition to request a central site.
“At the dawn of an irreversible decision in this matter, we hope to avoid the collective regret which tarnishes the construction of another hospital center, the new Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital,” we can read in an open letter.
The AQME asks the Quebec government to respect its own principles of sustainable development with regard to its health network. The future CHAU must encourage collective and active transportation in order to minimize its impacts on air quality and transportation times. A central site would promote the well-being of patients and employees, specifies the association.
Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, president of the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME). (Simon Séguin-Betrand, The Law/Simon Séguin-Betrand, The Law)
“Building a hospital doesn’t happen often,” recalls Dr. Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, president of the AQME. This is a golden opportunity to seize to set an example in terms of sustainable development and response to the values that the population wants to see from the government. The Outaouais is a region that has long been poorly served and continues to be poorly served in terms of health care. Here we finally have a project which should be exciting, but which might not be because it will generate criticism rather than bringing people together.”
The AQME believes that the future Outaouais regional hospital center must “break the mold in which health infrastructure projects have been for decades.”
