The Government of Quebec, in collaboration with the Government of Canada, announces that the project to expand and renovate the psychiatric services centre and the emergency department at the Saint-François-d'Assise Hospital has reached a new milestone. Planning work can now proceed under new parameters to better meet the needs of patients and staff.
The approved work allows for the continued planning of the expansion project and the renovation of the current emergency department facilities to house a transitional psychiatric emergency unit. This portion of the nearly $28 million project is receiving $13.9 million in funding from the federal government, granted under the Build Communities Strong Fund (BCSF) program.
This was announced today by Jean-François Simard, Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region, on behalf of Sonia Bélanger, Minister of Health and Minister responsible for Seniors and Caregivers, and the federal Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works, and Procurement and Quebec Liaison, the Honourable Joël Lightbound, accompanied by Steeve Lavoie, Member of Parliament for Beauport-Limoilou.
This preparatory work is part of a project to extend the building by three storeys, including a garden-level floor, which will be built east of the current emergency department, in the heart of the Saint-François d'Assise Hospital, at a total cost of over $145 million. The preparatory work will enable the temporary psychiatric emergency department at the Saint-François d'Assise Hospital to take over from the psychiatric emergency department at the Enfant-Jésus Hospital, which must be vacated to allow for the continued construction and renovation of the new hospital complex.
The timeline for the Saint-François-d'Assise Hospital project has been revised and now calls for the psychiatric services centre to be fully operational in February 2031. Psychiatric emergency operations will be transferred to the Saint-François-d'Assise Hospital once the temporary emergency department opens, scheduled for spring 2028. This will allow construction to continue in the areas currently occupied by the transitional emergency department, leading to the second and final phase of the project, which is scheduled for completion in spring 2032.
Other hospital projects supported by the Federal Government
Mr. Simard and Mr. Lightbound took the opportunity to announce that other hospital projects will receive federal government support through the BCSF. Specifically, the construction and renovation of the new hospital complex at the Hôpital Enfant-Jésus will receive $103.5 million; the renovation of Santé Québec's outpatient respiratory health and pulmonary oncology centre - Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec - Université Laval, will receive $3.5 million, and the expansion and renovation of the endoscopy and operating rooms and logistics services at the Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis will receive $47 million.
