The McGill University Health Centre and the private-sector consortium that has begun building the long-awaited superhospital signed a partnership agreement Thursday that secures funding for the hospital and allows construction to proceed.
“This announcement marks a pivotal step in our journey to transform health care,” Arthur Porter, the CEO of the MUHC, said in an official statement.
More than $1.3 billion has been secured by the MUHC and the private-sector partners (known as the McGill Health Infrastructure Group) to build the hospital’s new Glen Campus.
The partnership will last 30 years. The MHIG will finance, build and maintain the hospital in exchange for a three-decade lease from the Quebec government.
The partnership agreement has not been free of controversy, however. Quebec’s Auditor-General Renaud Lachance released a report earlier this year warning against public-private partnerships for hospital projects, because of flaws in financing and faulty cost comparisons. Public protests also took place.
The hospital, which is expected to open in 2014, will combine a cancer centre and research facility, as well as the services currently offered by the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal Chest Institute.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.