The Québec government is pushing P3s for the province’s hospitals. On the heels of a recent P3 conference in Montreal, the Québec treasury board president has endorsed private sector operation of two new hospitals at the McGill University Health Centre and the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal.
The government and hospital officials are calling the schemes ‘innovative financing’, despite the evidence of higher costs that come with P3s. Health support services are likely to be the first place where corners get cut. During the recent election campaign, the Liberals called for contracting out of hospital laundry, cleaning and food services.
On the New Brunswick election trail, newly re-elected premier Bernard Lord repeated his suggestion that a new hospital in Woodstock be built through a P3. The province’s health coalition, co-chaired by CUPE NB president David Rouse was quick to condemn the move, calling for the new hospital to be built quickly – and publicly.
