MONTREAL - Less than two weeks after doctors at LaSalle hospital publicly denounced the decrepit state of their workplace, the provincial government is coming to their rescue, but the government is adamant the $34 million plan is not a response to the shame campaign.
Doctors Francois Langlais and Tony Assouline took a number of videos and set up a website to display the sad state of affairs in the ER.
The videos showed exam tables that had ripped surfaces, mould spreading from ceiling ventilation, and doctors storing coats in the only available space: a bathroom.
The videos were watched by people across Quebec, but days later, after the government said it would fund the hospital, Dr. Langlais stripped the videos from the website.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Yves Bolduc announced LaSalle hospital would get a $34 million makeover, which would see the Emergency Room quadruple in size, and grow from seven to 10 exam rooms.
However Bolduc made a point of saying the renovation had been in the works for some time, and that the state of the LaSalle hospital's ER, while poor, was not unheard of.
"They should go to see the emergency rooms in the other provinces," said Bolduc. "All the emergency rooms in other provinces you know have some problems."
"If you go to Oklahoma or Kansas City you're going to see emergency rooms like the ones that are in Quebec."
The call for tenders will be made by November, with a slated completion date for construction by 2014.
As for whether he thought his public campaign was responsible, Dr. Tony Assouline was not sure.
"Would I use YouTube again? It's a very hard question. Like I said, hopefully not."
The hospital administration had submitted a proposal to the government for a $40 million renovation project in May 2010, but never received a response until after the videos were made public.
Doctors started complaining about the state of the ER in 2004.
