Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital moves into new-and-improved ER

MONTREAL -The emergency room at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital is moving into a new space over the weekend.

Although the emergency room will remain open, officials with the hospital are asking the public to avoid the ER on Saturday.

Those in need of emergency medical assistance are being asked to go to a different hospital or clinic until the move is completed. For a list of nearby clinics you can consult the Montreal Health website.

Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette was at the hospital Friday for the official inauguration.

The $84.7 million project is part of the government’s latest attempts to improve hospital infrastructure throughout the province.

The hospital’s former ER saw almost 200 patients each day and was in need of a facelift – emergencies often had to be treated in other sections of the hospital.

“First of all, we have to have better access to primary care – that’s Bill 20,” insisted Barrette.

“The other aspect is to make sure that patients who are coming in and being treated at this facility are given the proper care at the proper time at the proper pace.”

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The project started in 2010 and will continue through 2017, expanding the ER to almost twice the size of the previous one.

It will include decontamination and isolation areas for volatile patients.

The former emergency room will be re-purposed to house the ambulance sector, radiology and diagnostics.

It will also have larger waiting rooms and an administrative clinic.

The hospital serves a large portion of Montreal’s east end.