Residents of the rapidly-growing area of Vaudreuil-Soulanges were looking forward to getting a new hospital, but then the Liberals were voted out and that promise is not high on the new Parti Quebecois government agenda.
The 140,000 residents of such towns as Hudson, Ile Perrot, Pincourt, Saint Lazare and Vaudreuil-Dorion currently have to drive about 30 minutes to get to the closest hospital, the Lakeshore General.
That's just too far for many and has led some to even seek treatment over the border in Hawkesbury, Ontario.
The local Liberal MNA believes the lack of health care in the region is a big problem.
“In North America we are the only population without a hospital with as much people as we are,” said MNA Lucie Charlebois.
When questioned Thursday, Quebec’s health minister expressed no plan to change the situation.
"We are analyzing all the needs of infrastructure in the health network and given the budget we have for infrastructure, we will look at the priorities,” said Rejean Hebert.
Richard Chartrand, who sits on a committee trying to find a way to get a hospital located in the region, considers the need too great to ignore.
“There's no choice,” he said. “You have 150 000 people without any health care.”
