Denise Belec mayors, CLSC representa
tives, and representatives
from the CRSSSO on
Thursday, August 31.
The construction of the
$17.4 million project
should begin next spring.
Completion is expected 16
to 18 months later.
After three years of
promises and making
plans, the Quebec Govern
ment has finally given
Pontiac Community Hos-
pital Administrators the
go-ahead to build the new
hospital in Shawville.
Agriculture, Food and
Fisheries Minister Mich
el Pagé announced the ap
proval of the project to the
hospital staff, area
The 50-bed acute-care
hospital will house the
emergency room, the oper-
ating room, laboratory,
archives, and a medical
library.
The present hospital will
be renovated for long term
care, the readaptation cen-
tre and for the adminis-
tration.
There are 72 beds cur-
rently available at the
hospital. When the new
one is built, the number of
available beds will go up
to 85.
Mr Pagé said the hospi-
tal project had been top pri-
orities with the Minister of
Health for the past few
years.
“This is a just return of
your taxes,” said Mr
Pagé.
He added that the region
had a right to demand the
same quality of service
that is available in the rest
of the Province.
The government hopes
that this will encourage
Quebecers who have gone
to Ontario for their health
care at a cost of $6.5 mil-
lion, to come back to Que-
bec for their medical
needs.
“People will no longer
have to travel to Ontario to
receive medical care,”
said Mr Pagé.
Mr Pagé arrived in
Shawville by helicopter on
Thursday night for the of-
ficial opening of the
Shawville Fair.
Before attending the
Fair, Mr Pagé went to the
hospital to make the an-
nouncement on behalf of
his colleague, Health
Minister Thérèse Lavoie-
Roux.
But before going to the
Fair, Mr Pagé made one
last stop at the Pontiac Re-
ception Centre to greet Mrs
Cora MacKechnie, recipi-
ent of the Gold medal for
Agricultural Merit.
Mr Gilles Lanteigne (right), director general of the Pontiac Community Hospi-
tal introduced the hospital staff to Agricultural Minister Michel Pagé (left), before
Mr Pagé made his announcement.
