Moving full steam ahead: Major changes at 2300 Tupper

It’s been over six months since we moved from 2300 Tupper to the Glen site. While we’ve all been busy adjusting to our new hospital, what’s been going on at the old site?

What’s been going on over the last six months?

“We’ve been very busy over the last six months,” says Barbara Izzard, Senior Advisor for the MCH Redevelopment. Besides overseeing regular maintenance and security of the building, teams have been going from room to room collecting inventory of all the biomedical equipment and furniture. And in mid-January, a scrap metal company began removing all discarded metals. “We also have to go through all the paper and documents that were left behind and MCH volunteers have agreed to pack all the books for donation,” she says.

What’s happening to all the equipment and furniture?

Every piece of biomedical equipment has been identified and tagged to Keep/Reuse, Sell/Donate, or Discard. These items were first offered to MUHC sites, and a large amount were moved to the Glen site, Montreal General Hospital and Lachine Hospital, while the rest have been submitted to the Ministry and requests are starting to filter in from other healthcare facilities in the region. As for IS and Telecom items, like printers and telephones, every piece has been removed, recycled or reused. Next on the list is to finish inventorying all the furniture. “We still have to finish looking through Blocks E and F, but the rest of the facility is done,” explains Barbara.

Who still works there?

Security guards Khemais Dassi, Yoel Perez Gorris and Gilles Gauthier, are just three of the employees still at 2300 Tupper street. They spend their days looking after the building and guarding the old site. Long-time carpenter Greg Beerwort is still on-site and shares his duties with Sylvain Parent. Both have been very involved with maintenance of the facility and helping with inventory. After the sale of the site, Greg and Sylvain will be transferred to the Montreal General Hospital of the MUHC, and the security team will be sent to guard the former Royal Victoria Hospital site.

Who bought the old site?

After a public-tender process, Les Placements Luc Poirier Ltd.’s submission was selected.  The group is currently in the middle of a 120-day due diligence period, which will confirm the transaction’s terms. If all goes as expected, proceeds from the sale will be transferred to the New MUHC redevelopment budget.