“It doesn’t make sense”: $7,000 for two power outlets at the MUHC

The McGill University Hospital Center (MUHC) paid more than $7,000 for the installation of two power outlets, $600,000 for the redevelopment of three premises and nearly $1,700 for no-smoking signs in its new hospital built in a public-private partnership.

Our Bureau of Investigation obtained the list of all minor work carried out between July 2023 and July 2024. In total, more than $747,000 was billed to taxpayers for modifications to the hospital inaugurated in 2015.

Certain expenses invoiced by the private partner headed by SNC-Lavalin are surprising.

Connect a freezer

Last May, the establishment paid $7,217 for two 110-volt electrical outlets, similar to those found in homes. They were installed to power an under-counter refrigerator and an incubator, as part of the human tissue donation program managed by Héma-Québec.

This amount includes engineering, carpentry and plan updating costs. It also includes a percentage of profits to the private partner McGill Real Estate Health Group, the consortium led by SNC-Lavalin. The hospital declined to reveal that percentage.

A sum of $614,000 was also spent to transform three offices, in particular to add open-concept workstations. One of these premises had already undergone work just six years ago in 2018 to add a wall and the addition of a door.

“In 2018 work was carried out to convert a conference room into an administrative office. Recent work in this room has made it possible to install more workstations,” explains a spokesperson for the establishment, Évelyne Dufresne.

$1652 for signs

Among other expenses, we find a bill of $1,652 for the purchase and installation of 17 signs prohibiting smoking outside, or approximately $100 per sign.

“To put up the slightest little sign, the slightest sign, you have to deal with the consortium which charges you top dollar,” underlines Pierre J. Hamel, professor at the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS).

He indicates that we often see this type of spending in PPPs, both here and in Europe. He notably recalls the $26,500 for the installation of around ten televisions revealed by our Investigation Office in 2015.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he hastens to add.

These expenses are in addition to the multibillion-dollar contract signed with the private consortium for the construction and maintenance of the building until 2047.

Until then, each modification must be the subject of discussions with the private consortium.

A team from the MUHC is responsible for reviewing each project, negotiating prices and controlling invoicing provides direction.

“This control is done by comparing with similar projects on our other sites and by soliciting the market for the selection of contractors and subcontractors,” explains Évelyne Dufresne.

Since the construction of the MUHC and the CHUM in public-private partnership, no other hospital has been renovated or built with this formula which was abandoned by the government.

Examples of costs for minor works

• Adding two electrical outlets for a freezer $7,217
• Installation of two smoke detectors $21,954
• Redevelopment of three premises $614,000
• Adding two locks to the sorting room doors $312.53
• Humidity and pressure probes at the pharmacy $102,561

Source: McGill University Health Center, list of minor work completed from July 1, 2023 to 1^is July 2024