Building a better hospital for our kids

The Montreal Children's Hospital is building a new home.

Plans are well underway to build a brand-new Montreal Children's Hospital on The Glen site, located directly behind the Vendôme metro station in Westmount and NDG.

In the Spring of 2006, the Government of Quebec and the Ministry of Health and Social Services gave the green light to The McGill Univesity Health Centre for its redevelopment project. This project will bring together the MUHC's five partners-The Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria and Montreal Neurological hospitals and the Montreal Chest Institute- on to two campuses: The Mountain (current site of the Montreal General Hospital) and The Glen.

Patient needs paramount

Nobody really looks forward to a hospital appointment and even less to a hospital stay. We recognize this and that is why we are building a hospital with our patients' and families' needs in mind. We will pay attention to simple details like making sure that waiting room chairs are comfortable, as well as more technical details such as private rooms, which make the most of natural outdoor light.

We pledge to build a children's hospital where patients receive the most advanced care and where medical research and teaching are integrated into all our activities.

Side by side with our adult partners

The Children's will share the Glen site with one of the MUHC's adult hospitals and the new Shriners Hospital. This close proximity will be beneficial in many ways; it will allow our healthcare professionals in both pediatrics and adult care to work more closely together, and to share information, findings and treatment plans. It also allows us to share very scarce and expensive equipment for adult and pediatric treatment when appropriate, decreasing the expense to the ministry of health.

Even more important, our young patients will be able to make a seamless transition from pediatric care to adult care, a major benefit to young adults who may be uneasy or worried about moving to a new hospital, meeting with a new doctor and getting used to a new health team.

With the healthcare teams at The Children's and the adult hospital working side by side, the move to adult care will be much easier for many patients.

Unique aspect of the MUHC

The MUHC is very proud of its unique ability to provide seamless care from fertility to elder care. We are the only health care centre in Quebec who can make this claim.

When will the new hospital open?

We expect to open the new Children's Hospital in 2010. Right now, we are designing our new building. We are looking at what services we will offer, where different departments will be located and how patient rooms will be designed. To guide us, we are also looking at other new hospitals to determine what works and what can be improved upon. For example, we are studying the way hospitals design their nursing units and will be seeking feedback and suggestions from our staff to make sure we build it right. We are also looking at the overall design of our building both inside and out to make sure it reflects The Montreal Children's Hospital mission and to ensure that it is a 'kid friendly' environment.

Capital campaign

In the coming months, you will hear about or may be approached about donating to The Best Care for Children Capital Campaign. Our goal is to raise $100 million dollars to build our new hospital. We know we will once again be able to count on the Montreal community to support this important project. Together we can ensure our children and future generations receive the best care for life.

Learn more about the Best Care for Children Capital Campaign

Learn more about the MUHC Redevelopment project