‘Please bring the workers’: Rally outside Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital urging Quebec government to start reconstruction

A rally was held outside of Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal’s East End on Wednesday morning, urging the Quebec government to start the reconstruction and expansion project for the hospital right away – after Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé admitted recently that work was postponed and may not happen until 2026.

“We are ready for the new hospital,” said Sonia Bureau, a physiotherapist at the hospital and the VP for hospital employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). “We need that new hospital for a decent condition of work and for the patients, so they have the better care.”

As a symbol for their demands, protesters brought an excavator on site to show the CAQ what they want: for them to break ground and get to work.

“They should rebuild this hospital as soon as possible – right now,” said André A. Morin, Quebec Liberal MNA for the Acadie riding.

Last week, a coalition was formed of unions, health-care professionals, patients and the East End Chamber of Commerce to put pressure on Quebec.

And members of the province’s opposition parties took part in Wednesday’s rally to call out the Legault government, as reports have unveiled the hospital is in a dilapidated state.

“[Hospital staff] have to work with animals in the hospital, like squirrels. They have all kinds of insects. The roof is not really in good condition, so they suffer flooding in some departments,” said Morin. “These workers, they are doing a very important role for the health services, and they are working in these conditions, which is totally unacceptable.”

According to a recent Léger poll conducted on behalf of the East End Chamber of Commerce, 79 per cent of Quebecers believe that the Legault government must accelerate the modernization and expansion project at the hospital.

“It’s a disgrace,” said Syrvane Pietropaolo, a user exiting the hospital on Wednesday. “I don’t know how to use a [bigger] word than that, because we need this hospital. And they have to do it now, now, immediately.”

Hospital user Suzenne Des Serres said she believes the government should have undertaken the project years ago.

“All the people who are working here, they’re really working for the patients, for the health of the patient,” she said. “The government or whoever, you know, they talk, but they don’t apply what they’re saying.”

Dubé’s office previously told CityNews that they are moving forward to accelerate the project’s deployment and will announce the dates for the next milestones as soon as they are official.

“We are begging [Legault] to just change his mind, manage his financials and just put the money,” said Bureau. “[It’s] for the Maisonneuve-Rosemont, for the East of Montreal, for the population of the East of Montreal and the whole [of] Quebec, because we’re giving care to much more people than just [in] this area, and we’re giving needed care. So that’s the message: Please, please bring the workers, and let’s make a new hospital soon.”