McGill University Health Centre Redevelopment Plan Meets Government Criteria

The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) unveiled today the redevelopment plan that it has submitted to the independent Technical Review Committee chaired by Daniel Johnson and the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney.

"The delivery of our plan represents an important step forward, keeping us on track for Cabinet approval this spring," stated MUHC Board Chairman David Culver. "We've succeeded in preparing a proposal that respects the government's parameters but remains true to our vision for excellence in patient care, teaching and research."

"The new MUHC," explained Dr. Hugh Scott, MUHC Executive Director, "will be composed of two sites – the General and the Glen – with a concentration of missions and services on one or the other of the sites. In so doing, one of our aims is to minimize travel between our two locations for both our patients and our professional staff."

The MUHC will be consolidating tertiary and quaternary services, including children's services and the neurosciences at the Glen, making it the health centre's acute care and highly specialized hub. The vast majority of the Research Institute will also be concentrated at the Glen site in order to realize synergies with the clinical programs being housed there. Both the Glen and the General sites will have full-service adult emergency rooms with trauma being focused at the Glen. The General will focus on providing general medical and surgical services, as well as day surgery procedures. It will be the principle site for full programs in areas such as mental health, geriatrics and palliative care and certain ambulatory programs such as dermatology and dentistry.

The redevelopment plan was developed by the MUHC's Clinical Development Committee, whose members included senior management, medical chiefs and representatives from each of the professional councils and departments. "The course has been set," noted Dr. Scott, "but we fully expect that the plan will be adjusted and improved as medical knowledge and technology evolve and as the Quebec health care system evolves. Today's assumptions—both our assumptions and the government's assumptions--will be tested against future realities."

The plan has been unanimously endorsed by the Board of Directors of the MUHC and the McGill Board of Governors. "The signature of McGill's internationally-recognized Faculty of Medicine has long been the integration of teaching, research and patient care," stated Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. "This redevelopment plan enhances our capacity in each of these areas to the benefit of Montrealers and Quebecers alike."

The MUHC's redevelopment plan, which includes transitional needs and the new development, is budgeted at $1.2 billion. The provincial government will provide $800 million while $100 million is expected from the federal government, and $300 million from the MUHC capital campaign. As part of that campaign, the MUHC Foundation expects to launch a joint corporate campaign with the CHUM Foundation.

"We will be begin implementing the redevelopment program as soon as we receive government approval of our plan," stated Mr. Culver. "We expect, for example, to begin the renovation of operating rooms and the emergency room at the General within the next year and to upgrade our information technology, all of which are essential to the General's mandate within the new development of the MUHC. "

The Technical Review Committee is scheduled to submit its recommendation on February 27, 2004 to Dr. Philippe Couillard, the Minister of Health.