Shriners unveil hospital expansion plans

By Chloé Fedio, Montreal Gazette July 15, 2010 Be the first to post a comment

The Shriners Hospital for Children is replacing its cramped quarters on the slope of Mount Royal with a new 173,000-square- foot facility with 22 patient rooms and four operating rooms adjacent to the future Montreal Children's Hospital.

The Shriners Hospital for Children is replacing its cramped quarters on the slope of Mount Royal with a new 173,000-square- foot facility with 22 patient rooms and four operating rooms adjacent to the future Montreal Children's Hospital.
Photograph by: Allen McInnis, -

MONTREAL - The Shriners Hospitals for Children is replacing its cramped quarters on the slope of Mount Royal with a new 173,000-square- foot facility with 22 patient rooms and four operating rooms adjacent to the future Montreal Children's Hospital.

The new Shriners hospital will be built on the same site as the McGill University Health Centre's superhospital in the Glen Yards, a former rail yard that borders St. Henri, Notre Dame de Grâce and Westmount.

Mounds of dirt and bulldozers currently occupy the site near the Vendôme métro station.

Plans for the new Shriners building should be finalized by Christmas, officials revealed Thursday. Construction will run parallel with the MUHC project, which is expected to be completed in October 2014.

The announcement comes after a decade of delays, which nearly led the Shriners to relocate to London, Ont.

Keeping the hospital in Montreal is a source of pride for the city, said Richard Deschamps, executive committee member responsible for infrastructure

"This achievement is part of our administration's desire to shape our city into a centre for knowledge and creativity," Deschamps said. "This confirms Montreal's mission to become a true magnet in the field of health services on the international scene."

The old Shriners hospital on Cedar Ave., in operation since 1925, is only 89,000 square feet, and the bigger hospital will accommodate more patients and research, said Robert Drummond, chairman of the Montreal Shriners Hospitals board of governors.

"With more space, we can do more and we can do it even better," Drummond said.

He added patients will also benefit from having the Montreal Children's Hospital as a neighbour.

"The need for intrahospital transport and the inconveniences that go along with that will no longer be necessary. We will have access to new technologies for research and rehabilitation, and it will facilitate us to continue to recruit and retain the best talent," he said.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a health care system that provides specialty care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate.

The Montreal hospital, which specializes in orthopedic care, is one of 22 in North America and the only one in Canada.
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