After several twists and turns in recent years, the site of the new Outaouais hospital was announced Thursday morning. The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, confirmed that the hospital will be built on the Asticou site and that there will be another service point in downtown Gatineau.
Several MPs and ministers, from the provincial and federal governments, were present for the announcement. The Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, officially announced that the Government of Canada has signed an agreement in principle for the transfer of part of the land and building of the Asticou Center to the government of Quebec with the aim of developing the future Outaouais Affiliated University Hospital Center (CHAU).
The hospital center will have 600 beds. The downtown service point will be accessible by public transportation, including the Rapibus, and is expected to open in 2026. It will be equipped with various “high-volume clinical activities,” including a sampling and vaccination center, certain front-line services and OPTILAB laboratories.
In a press release from the office of the Minister of Health, it is explained that “the project is being modified in order to better correspond to the expectations and needs of the population of the region and to be carried out as soon as possible for a faster commissioning for the population.”
Technical studies had demonstrated “a significant presence of biogas, possibly unsuitable for the construction of a hospital, a conclusion which could only be obtained after starting construction work, a risk deemed unacceptable by the government”. In addition to this issue, expropriations were more numerous than anticipated and there was difficulty in relocating businesses.
In the summer of 2022, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) announced that the future CHAU de l’Outaouais would be built along rue d’Edmonton, in the Hull sector. But subsequently the government backed down on its choice.
“Exactly two years ago, I was here with colleagues to announce the site. Two years later, we made an ad for the same hospital, but on another site. What happened ? What happened is that during the last two years we unfortunately had several surprises on the site and I think you have to be very transparent when you work with billions of dollars and when you work with installations that will last 50, 75, 100 years,” declared Mr. Dubé at a press briefing in Gatineau.
“If at any given moment we realize that we are not making a good decision, we must not be afraid to take a step back. And that’s what happened, we had to reconsider the site. »
The Asticou Center site has a total area of 26 hectares. Of this number, 17.2 hectares should be transferred to the government of Quebec by December 2025, Public Services and Procurement Canada said in a press release. Subject to approvals, the remaining 8.9 hectares would be transferred to the National Capital Commission (NCC) for renaturalization purposes.
