Montfort Hospital - Provincial Restructuring

Provincial Restructuring

In February 1997 the Health Services Restructuring Commission, appointed by the provincial government of Mike Harris, announced that the hospital would be closed in 1999 alongside the Riverside and Grace Hospital due to lack of funding at the Provincial level. This caused an outcry in the Franco-Ontarian community. Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien both lent their support to keeping the hospital open. Quebec Liberal leader Daniel Johnson and federal Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest also asked Harris to keep the hospital open. The Tory government asserted that francophone access to medical service would be fully available at the bilingual Ottawa Hospital and that the 200 bed Montfort was too small to operate efficiently. Harris criticized Bouchard and Chrétien for intervening in an issue clearly out of their jurisdiction.

A lobby group S.O.S Montfort was set up led by former Vanier mayor Gisèle Lalonde. Franco-Ontarian business leaders donated money to keep the hospital open and a rally was held on March 22, 1997 at the Ottawa Civic Centre that drew 10,000 people. In total, 126,000 people signed a petition calling for it to remain open. In the face of this opposition the Restructuring Commission agreed to review its decision. In April the government backed down and floated a new plan that would see the Montfort building closed, but the hospital continuing as an independent francophone entity within the General. The Montfort supporters rejected this compromise.