Quebec plans $672M hospital expansion in Longueuil

Key Takeaways:

• The project will build a six-story vertical addition above the active emergency room, creating 200 construction jobs.
• The expansion will deliver 16 modern operating rooms, a 30-bed ICU, a new pharmacy, and the hospital’s first-ever PET scanner.
• Early site prep begins shortly, with the temporary relocation of the ER to keep patients safe during construction ahead of a 2032 completion.

The Whole Story:

Quebec will spend $672 million to expand and thoroughly modernize the aging Charles-Le Moyne Hospital on Montreal’s South Shore. The massive construction project, which is expected to create approximately 200 construction jobs, will involve building a six-story addition directly above the hospital’s existing emergency department to consolidate several critical care units into a single building. While construction is underway, the hospital’s emergency room will be temporarily relocated to a nearby clinic to ensure uninterrupted regional care.

“Let’s be honest, the current hospital needs some love, a lot of love, and that’s what we’re going to give it,” Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said. “Some of the pavilions are in very poor condition. It also lacks space. So, what exactly are we going to do? We’re going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to expand and renovate Charles-Le Moyne Hospital.”

The massive overhaul includes modernizing and expanding the hospital’s same-day surgery and critical care zones, increasing the total number of operating rooms to 16, and building a new 30-bed intensive care unit that integrates respiratory therapy and instrument sterilization. A key highlight of the modernization is the installation of the hospital’s first positron emission tomography (PET) scanner.

This advanced diagnostic equipment will allow South Shore patients battling cancer, heart disease, or brain disorders to receive critical, high-precision imaging locally. Premier Fréchette pointed out that this addition “will truly change the lives of thousands of people” who currently must exhaustingly travel to the Island of Montreal for specialized scans.

The project’s financing is anchored by a $28.2 million contribution from the federal government’s Build Communities Strong Fund. Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel, who attended the announcement, noted that “in many regions, hospitals built in the 1970s now serve twice the population for which they were designed.” (Charles-Le Moyne is even older, having originally opened its doors in 1965). With the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) serving as the project manager, early staging works are set to begin shortly, with a target to have the expanded facility fully operational by 2032.

The six-story vertical expansion is engineered to modernize the hospital’s clinical footprint:

• Footprint Expansion: Six brand-new levels constructed vertically over the current emergency room.
• Critical Care Integration: A new intensive care unit holding 30 specialized beds.
• Surgical Capacity: An expansion bringing the facility’s active operating rooms up to 16.
• Advanced Diagnostics: Dedicated space for a regional PET scanner to eliminate off-island oncology travel.
• Support Infrastructure: Integration of a brand-new pharmacy, outpatient clinic, and respiratory therapy wing.