Health Minister Gatan Barrette says he won't bail out MUHC

Health Minister GatanBarrette says he won't provide extra funding to theMcGillUniversity Health Centreto cover its budget shortfall.

The MUHChas to cut $28 million over the next two years. It will face an additional shortfall of $10 million this year.

• MUHC to make $28M in cuts to make up for budget deficit

"Everybody wants to have more," said Barrette."There has to be control overspending and that applies to theMUHCas it does to any institutionin this province."

Emergency room 30% busier

TheMUHChas been struggling with an overcrowded emergency room, a higher than anticipated number of childbirths and a shortage of beds ever since it opened its new Glen site.

The emergency room is close to 30 per cent busier than it was before the hospital moved to the Glen Site.

A report today says the Quebec government is blaming theMUHCfor taking on too many cancer and emergency room patients.

"I cannot, and I will not, subsidize, fund a hospital that is always over its allocated budget," said Barrette."It is impossible to run a network this way."

Barrette says the French teaching hospital, the CHUM, is never over budget.

The MUHCis funded based on a clinical plan laid out nearly 10 years ago.

Amy Ma, co-chair of the MUHC Central Users Committee,says that funding plan no longer reflects the reality of the number of patients who need services at the hospital.

"Hospitals exist to treat patients, not to meet budgets," said Ma. "It's true you have to be fiscally responsible, but there's this thing about the 2007 clinical plan that they're basing this on which is almost ten years ago."

• Doctors sue MUHC over delivery quotas they say threaten babies

Hard to turn patients away

MUHCspokesperson Richard Fahey says the hospital istrying to reduce the number of patients it accepts, but it'snot that easy.

"We are trying to find somewhere else in the network for their treatment but if not, I mean we cannot push them out and leave them on the sidewalk."

Barrette said that before he can consideranyadditionalfunding for theMUHC, the hospital will have to prove it can manage its money.