Inspection report shows 20% of Quebec hospitals in poor condition

A recent report issued by the Quebec governmentreveals that many of the province's hospitals and long-term care institutionsare falling apart.

CBC's French-language service,Radio-Canada, obtained the report, which discloses thatmore than 20 per cent of hospitalbuildings are in poor or very poor condition, including some of those atMontreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont,Sainte-JustineandDouglas hospitals.

• C. difficile control: Handwashing practices lax at Quebec hospitals
• More health data should be made public, Gatan Barrette says
• 'Are we being punished because we are too good?': Quebec eliminates health watchdog

The report shows the worst-affectedbuildingsare at a high level of degradation and needbetter ongoing maintenance.Some requireimmediate, urgent repairs. Others need to bereplaced.

Building inspections carried out by Quebecshow that the percentage of buildings in a poor stateis even higher for long-term care facilities, with 30 per cent in decay or degradation.

The report is based on an inspection of just one-third of Quebec's health-care institutions the proportion that inspectors have visited to date.

Fit for wrecking ball?

Quebec Health Minister Gatan Barrette saidit's clear that some buildingswill likely be demolished.

• Health reform to standardize medical treatment costs
• Hospital in Vaudreuil-Dorion given go-ahead by Quebec government

"Is it better to invest to maintain a facility or wait a couple of years and knock it down and build a new one?" Barrette asked.

Barrette saidinspectors will go over the entire network by 2018.

He said the government has already planned topump $10billion over the next decade into health-care infrastructure, although some of that is slated to pay down debt from completed projects.

Surgeries cancelled

Montreal's Maisonneuve-RosemontHospital is among the 20 hospitalsgiven a failing grade of E, the worst grade possible.

"We're absolutely not surprised by the grade," Martin Lgar, a pulmonologist at thehospital, told Radio-Canada.

In early April, damage to the hospital's ventilation system forced the cancellation of several operations.

"There were 17 people who were not operated on," Dr.Rafik Ghali told Radio-Canada. "It's the outcomeof having an old ventilation system in the operating room."