MUHC pledges to beef up Lachine Hospital services, reopen the ER
The Lachine Hospital will become a more robust community hospital, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) announced early Wednesday afternoon, with a fully functioning emergency room and more inpatient beds.
The decision comes a day after the National Assembly voted unanimously on a resolution stating the hospital's status should be upheld, and specialized services should be offered to the population.
The ER "will gradually reopen over the next few months to finally be able to receive walk-in patients and ambulances 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said the MUHC in a press release.
The Intensive Care Unit, however, will remain closed. The MUHC's rationale is that since the hospital is located a few kilometres from other hospitals with ICUs, patients can continue to be transferred to those institutions as they have been for more than a year.
The emergency room has repeatedly been closed overnight -- and the intensive care unit has been closed for years -- because of problems retaining essential staff.
There will be improvements made to the current 36-bed inpatient unit. Over the next 12 to 18 months it will be enlarged by 20 beds as additional staff, including family doctors, are recruited.
"This is excellent news and we’re still part of the MUHC family," Dr. Paul Saba told CTV News as he stood in front of the hospital shortly after he got word.
Saba, a family doctor there who has championed the community hospital for decades, is still unhappy that the intensive care unit will remain closed.
"It doesn’t have to be a full-service ICU like downtown, but even like a step-down unit where patients can be observed, taken care of and followed," he said.
NEW MANAGER TO BE NAMED IN COMING DAYS
Dr. Lucie Opatrny, the president and executive director of the MUHC, told CTV News the intention is to work on a project that is sustainable and long-term.
To help coordinate activities within the institution, Opatrny explained they will be naming an on-site manager in the coming days, "so that the decisions can be made locally and can be made quickly."
A $220-million modernization project at the hospital is expected to continue and the MUHC pledged to continue to develop the surgery, imaging and specialized medicine departments.
The MUHC's reversal came about after discussions with many stakeholders, it said, including with Quebec's health minister, Christian Dubé.
When asked about the decision, Opatrny characterized it as more of an evolution than a reversal.
"I really wouldn't say it's a 180. I think we have to see that Lachine has been in a fragile state as a small community hospital for more than 15 years and so it was important to take the time to say how and where are we going to rebuild," she said.
Activists, including the Committee to Save Lachine Hospital, citizens, and health-care workers have been fighting alongside Saba for all those years to reopen and maintain an array of services at the community health facility and went as a delegation to the legislature on Tuesday.
The Liberal MNA for Marquette, Enrico Ciccone, filed a petition in the National Assembly on Tuesday with 4,570 signatures supporting the establishment.
During question period that same day, Dubé said he had confidence in the managers on the ground to find a solution "and respect the essential role of the Lachine Hospital."
With files from CTV's Christine Long and Rob Lurie
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
The pros and cons of discussing mental health issues in the workplace
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.