By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A letter was published in a recent edition of The Suburban (Santé Quebec, you there?) about an infestation of ants at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. The letter was a visceral reaction to a news story that aired on the LCN network. The story was subsequently picked up by Le Journal de Montréal, and led to a badly-sealed can of worms, as it were.

Pests are not unique to the east end hospital. But it is true that Maisonneuve-Rosemont is in a state of disrepair, and needs urgent reconstruction even though the ant problem has for the moment been solved. And that was indeed the plan; the provincial government had announced plans to reconstruct the hospital at least as far back as 2023, with the hope of starting the work last fall. Soon after came news that budgetary constraints would mean the start date for the work would have to be put off to the middle of this year. Even more recently, however, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said the work was again being postponed, and would likely not happen until next year.

That sparked a protest, earlier this month, outside the hospital, with staff, management, and patients calling on work to begin right away. Their demand for immediate work on the hospital was echoed by André Morin, the Liberal MNA for the Acadie riding.

The protestors had also referenced the LCN report, citing pests, rodents, and a roof in dire need of repair. That report contained photos and videos, presumably taken by patients, visitors, or perhaps even staff, showing ants on walls and window sills, with reports of ants being found “around the insertion site of a patient’s jejunostomy feeding tube,” according to Adams’ letter.

There was even a skin-crawling shot of ants crawling all over one patient’s dentures sitting on a hospital night stand.

While these kinds of situations are out of the ordinary, pests in hospitals are not. Most Montreal-area hospitals budget anywhere from $12,000 to $67,000 a year for pest control. And Maisonneuve-Rosemont is by no means the only hospital in the city to have had reports of infestations; flies, ladybugs, even cockroaches have been reported in other hospitals.

But most hospitals seem to have it under control.

Maisonneuve-Rosemont is busy and cramped. On some floors there is barely enough room in tight hallways for much more than a gurney. And a recent visit to the hospital by a reporter from The Suburban gave the impression that even cleanliness is lacking.

The Régie du bâtiment du Québec did promise to send inspectors to the hospital. As for the needed reconstruction, Dubé said recently that he will no longer be providing any updates as to when the work is expected to actually begin. n