The Québec government has announced two new Montréal “superhospitals” will be privatized P3 facilities. New facilities at McGill University and the University of Montréal will be privately financed and maintained – in spite of the overwhelming evidence against P3 hospitals.
CUPE Québec’s analysis of the 30-year, $3.6 billion deal pokes holes in Health Minister Philippe Couillard’s P3 pitch, drawing on the growing body of evidence against privatized hospitals. In announcing the deals, Couillard argued privatization was the only way to guarantee proper maintenance and upkeep. The minister was apparently able to keep a straight face as he told media that the sometimes-lamentable state of Québec hospitals resulted from a lack of public investment.
“We are in total agreement! It is the responsibility of the government to ensure proper care and to invest in our infrastructures. There are no shortcuts for delivering quality services,” said CUPE Québec assistant regional director Michel Parenteau. “We are rushing headlong into P3s that will cost us more and increase our public debt, and the buildings inherited by future generations will require major investments to bring them up to standards,” he concluded.
The tendering process for the hospitals was launched at the end of June. Stay tuned to further developments at CUPE Québec’s website, as well as the site of Coalition Solidarité Santé.