A pediatric medical clinic with dozens of doctors and thousands of patients has abruptly announced it’s closing its doors.
The news came as a shock to many Montreal parents who began wondering where their kids’ doctors were going,
“It came out of nowhere,” said Kelly Macdonald, whose 10-year-old daughter has been a patient at The Children’s Clinic on De Maisonneuve for nearly a decade.
The Children’s Clinic was devoted to a wide scope of vital medical care for kids since opening in 2015. From general medicine to allergy specialists, endocrinologists and more, the sprawling clinic taking up the complete second floor of 5100 de Maisonneuve was a key resource. Those days are over.
Like many parents, Kelly Macdonald first heard the news of the closure on Facebook.
“We regret to inform you that due to circumstances, The Children’s Clinic located at 5100 de Maisonneuve West (Glen location) will be closing. We anticipate the last day of clinic operations to be January 26, 2024,” the clinic posted.
“I felt it was unacceptable,” said Macdonald. “It came out of nowhere. We had no idea as as a patient or patient’s family that this was happening. We had no idea there were any issues.”
Roughly 20 medical specialists and 20 full-time doctors are all moving on to other clinics.
There’s a list of where many of them are going on the clinic’s website.
“I don’t think any of us would have thought that my last day at the clinic would be because the clinic was closing,” said Dr. Harley Eisman, the medical director of The Children’s Clinic.
The building the clinic resided in is owned by the McGill University Health Centre, but was run by a private company headed by Vince Trevisonno, the president and CEO of Brunswick Medical.
Trevisonno did not want to appear on camera or be recorded by Global News, but said in a phone conversation that during COVID, patient visits plunged by 50 per cent and never quite recovered. He said before the pandemic, the clinic was getting 1,200 visits per week. That number went down to 600, and only rose back to about 800. According to Trevisonno, revenue was drastically reduced.
He said the clinic was paying the MUHC $50,000 per month in rent for the 20,000-square-foot space. It was also paying $15,000 per month to the city in taxes. With fewer patients and higher costs due in part to supply chain issues, he couldn’t keep up.
“It was just, I would say, on all sides, not really viable, to keep this running right now,” said Eisman. “Brunswick Medical was undergoing restructuring. Unfortunately, there was not an agreement had by all parties to continue this clinic running.”
Trevisonno said the MUHC showed flexibility, but he owed them over $1 million in back rent. Two weeks ago the Clinic declared bankruptcy. Another buyer was in the fold but a deal couldn’t be reached.
Some staff members told Global News their cheques had been late in recent months.
Regarding the last-minute Facebook post, Eisman said there was hope until the last moment that an agreement could be reached to keep the clinic afloat.
“It’s a great opportunity lost, frankly. At the end of the day, there wasn’t a viable plan put forward,” he said.
In a statement the MUHC said it “had no role whatsoever in the closing of the Children’s clinic.”
“The TCC was owned and operated by an independent entity, Brunswick Medical. This independent entity has declared bankruptcy, and this matter is currently before the courts,” wrote spokesperson Christine Bouthillier.
She shared a letter the MUHC’s pediatrics chief Dr. Beth Foster and CEO Dr. Lucie Opatrny recently wrote to staff on the matter.
“In fact, the MUHC had asked the court, despite a huge financial loss, to extend the operation by several weeks to allow for alternate solutions to be found,” they wrote. “Furthermore, despite efforts on the part of the MUHC to delay the closure, the MUHC has no control over the timeline, which is imposed by the court.”
Parents and doctors are now working to pick up the pieces.
Dr. Preetha Krishnamoorthy, an endocrinologist who worked at the clinic twice per month, said she found out it was on the brink of closure in mid-December,
“It was really quite fast for us. And the timing also wasn’t great just because it was around the Christmas holidays,” she told Global News. “By the beginning of January, we were aware and starting to make contingency plans. So for my clinics in January, I was already telling my patients that they’d be relocated for their next visit.”
Krishnamoorthy is relocating to the Brunswick Medical Centre in Pointe-Claire, which is also run by Trevisonno for now.
He says a sale will soon be announced.
Macdonald will follow her daughter’s doctor to another nearby clinic.
“Our health care system is for the pits, really,” she said, the incident having added to her cynicism. “You’re told by the government: ‘don’t go to the emergency room.’ You can’t even find a walk-in clinic these days. With our clinic, we had access to same day urgent care appointments to our doctor if needed. And now we’re left wondering what’s happening.”
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