Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services Danielle McCann has announced that she is maintaining the choice of the site initially planned for the construction of the future Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital centre.
This decision, made after the analysis of the other potential sites and various consultations with the partners, will make it possible to finalize the steps related to this site and to continue the planning of the project in order to realize the construction of the new hospital.
“Our desire in this case has always been to bring the project to completion without additional delay,” said McCann. “However, we wanted to take the time to meet all stakeholders and ensure that if we go ahead with this site, work would be done to minimize environmental impacts and compensate for the loss of agricultural land. We are now certain of this, and I am very pleased to confirm that the population of Vaudreuil-Soulanges and surrounding areas will have access, in a few years, to a quality health facility that will meet the needs and expectations.”
Over the last two months, the government, along with regional and local stakeholders, the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC and the City of Vaudreuil-Dorion, has assessed potential sites for the construction of the new hospital. The results of this analysis confirm that the site identified in recent years, despite the fact that it is located in an agricultural zone, remains the one most appropriate to accommodate the new hospital. At the intersection of Highways 30, 40 and Highway 340, it is easily accessible and provides the space required for the construction of a hospital of this size. This new evaluation shows that the current site is the one that will allow to build the hospital as soon as possible.
The government and the municipal authorities are concretely committed to the population and actors involved in the protection of farmland to achieve, with this project, a modern hospital in respect of the environment and agriculture. In particular, initiatives will be developed to convert fallow land into agricultural land on the territory of the RCM, in order to offset the land use of the current site. In addition, the proximity area around the future hospital will be used in particular for urban agriculture with market gardening health.
The spaces on the site that will not be dedicated to the realization of the hospital infrastructure will be revitalized, which will allow their use for agricultural and market garden purposes.
Following the completion of the clinical plan, the scope of the project was revised to adequately meet the needs of the population of southwestern Montérégie. Thus, the hospital will contain 404 beds. The estimated cost is $ 1.5 billion.
According to the planned schedule, work will begin in 2022 and will end in 2026.
