Employees of Hotel Dieu Hospital and those who live near the historic building are fighting to ensure it keeps some sort of medical purpose after most of its functions are transferred to the new French superhospital.
This even though Health Minister Gaetan Barrette has said repeatedly that he wants the building to become one of many "super clinics".
The Hotel Dieu is scheduled to move to the new CHUM hospital on Viger Ave. once construction is complete later this year.
But union staff say the hospital's operating rooms were recently renovated, and should be put to good use.
"They're about to close them. What's going to happen with that?" said CSN representative Jean-Pierre Daubois.
"We have waiting lists for any kind of surgery that requires hospitalization. We have over 100,000 people in Quebec waiting for surgery of some kind. What is it going to do to the waiting lists if we close the 12 operating rooms that we have here? It's going to be a disaster.
Earlier this week the city of Montreal said it was going to acquire the adjacent buildings owned by the nuns of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, and that it wanted to turn the parking lot into social housing.
Those who live near the hospital support that idea, saying the region needs more low-cost homes.
Last year Health Minister Gaetan Barrette said that he wanted the building to become a 'super clinic', which would be open for at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with on-site diagnostic equipment and numerous walk-in services.
The Health Ministry also last year that it was is discussion with the University of Montreal to use the building for its School of Public Health.
