Fleurimont maternal health expansion announced again

Lionel Carmant, the Minister for Health and Social Services, was in Sherbrooke on Wednesday afternoon to become the most recent in a string of government officials to announce that the proposed child and maternal health extension to the Fleurimont Hospital will be going ahead. Originally launched in 2004 only to be sent back to the drawing board by a range of provincial governments over the years since, the newest version of the project is expected to cover more than 33,000 square metres, include a number of new units, and cost a total of $328.8 million.

“This project will respond to the current reality of the healthcare network,” Carmant said, accompanied for the announcement by SaintFrançois MNA Geneviève Hébert and CIUSSS de l’estrie – CHUS CEO Stéphane Tremblay.

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Services minister said that the initial call for tenders on the new version of the project was issued in August and that the hope is for work to begin before the end of the year. Although he was nonspecific about the steps to follow, he added that the current hope is for construction to be completed for December of 2023, with units to be fully transferred and operational for the summer of 2024.

“Finally we are passing from words to action,” Hébert said. “This project has been dreamed of and hoped for, for a long time.”

In addition to providing a new home for the maternal health, pediatrics, neonatology, and child psychology units, the new facility, once completed, will also include a newly expanded and updated emergency unit.

Tremblay, for his part, said that, “happy is not a strong enough word,” to describe his feelings about the announcement.