EMILY HSUEH
OUTAOUAIS Oct. 14, 2020
CISSSO and the Quebec government have announced that a new 600-bed mega-hospital will be built in the Outaouais in the coming years.
In a French press conference live streamed on CISSSO’s Facebook page on Oct. 14, officials including Mathieu Lacombe and health minister Christian Dubé confirmed they would be . . .
building the new facility, but that the location and expected completion date have not been decided. Officials did say that the hospital would be built well before 2030, and that there are no current plans to close or destroy any existing hospitals.
The hospital was originally proposed by the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) in 2018 as part of a campaign promise. However, the initial plan only pledged at least 170 beds, a significantly lower number than the newly proposed 600. The main goal of the hospital, as said in the press conference, is to centralize specialized workers in one large facility to service the Outaouais region.
André Fortin, Pontiac MNA, was not satisfied with what was included in the statement, or rather, what was left out.
“Their announcement this week generates more questions than it provides answers. What was put on the table this week doesn’t give any details on cost or location or timeline on the organization of the services,” Fortin said in an interview with THE EQUITY. “If the government or the CQ is now talking about a complete reorganization of the services to centralize specialist doctors in one large scale hospital, then, then we’ll need details in very quick order…”
Fortin is most concerned with how services and resources will be distributed between this new hospital and existing rural hospitals, like the ones in Shawville, Maniwaki and Wakefield. There is also the issue of understaffing which has plagued the region for months. The issues were not directly addressed in the press conference, only that services would be “completely reorganized.”
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“The government needs to put a little bit of meat around the bones and tell us what this hospital will be used for, and what services will remain accessible in our Pontiac Community Hospital. And that’s what I’ll be pressing the CQ to do.”
Fortin asserted that he will continue to advocate for maintaining as well as adding services to the Pontiac Community Hospital, which is what residents in the region have been asking for. Though there is no plan to close any existing hospitals, Fortin said that if that scenario ever came to the PCH, it would “be over my dead body.”
“The Pontiac Hospital being part of the Pontiac community is non-negotiable for me,” said Fortin. “Everybody can understand the necessity and the urgency to provide services in rural areas. In times of an emergency is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”
Dr. Keith MacLellan has worked as a physician at PCH for many years and believes the Gatineau hospital will be able to help rural hospitals like the one he worked for. But he does share some concerns with Fortin.
“I think it’s very good news for the Pontiac if done properly … as long as it doesn’t take away even more health services for the Pontiac,” MacLellan said. “It’s important to have specialty services as much as possible close to home and that’s my concern with Shawville’s Pontiac Community Hospital. If the new hospital in Gatineau attracts a large number of specialists then I think many of them will be coming out giving some of their knowledge and skill sets to rural areas. It just depends how it’s played out.”
Ultimately, Fortin wants more information to be released to the public before they begin to assess how this will affect the region.
“All we got this week was a rehash of their their electoral promise. I think it’s time for them to tell us exactly what it means for for all these services.”
