Stop The Kettle Island Bridge

Montfort Hospital: Facts and figures

Some facts and figures about the Montfort Hospital, which will be negatively impacted by the Kettle Island bridge.

On the expansion of Montfort:

• In 2006, the government announced a $283 million investment to expand the Montfort hospital. This will increase the size of the hospital by 125% and will add 450,000 square feet of new space.
• Furthermore, The hospital has invested $21 million in new equipment, and will be investing an additional $40 million, bringing the total to $61 million apart from the initial cost of $283 million.
• At the end of the construction and renovations, Montfort will have 289 beds available for acute care, plus 128 beds for long term care (total: 417 beds).

On services available at the end of the construction:

• Visits at the emergency will increase by 73%, and will accommodate more than 55,000 visits per year
• Intensive care unit will double in size
• Surgery rooms will rise from 7 to 11, and cases of surgery will increase from 6,090 to 9,730 a year
• 84% increase in the number of visits due to exams, medical orders, etc. for a total of 1 million visits per year
• The number of hospital employees will rise from 950 to 1,500

On training:

• Montfort will accommodate 500 students in 36 disciplines related to health care, including 260 students in medicine
• Montfort also has a key partnership with Ottawa University and is the hospital offering the most support in terms of practical experience for students in medicine

On women and children’s health:

• Increase in the number of deliveries from 1,220 to 2,700 per year.
• This year the Montfort will host 2,800 deliveries
• 18 single rooms for labour, birth, recovery and post-partum, plus 11 traditional rooms, whereas previously there were 6 labour beds and a post partum unit of 14 beds.
• Montfort will also provide a new model for providing health services to women in partnership with the community

Note that the new Montfort will include a new Health Centre for National Defence in the National Capital region, in association with DND. A new team of specialists will integrate the hospital to provide specialized care to the military.

How does the Montfort Hospital feel about the Kettle Island bridge and the impact on its ability to care for its patients? Check out the videos below for coverage of the Montfort press conference on the topic:

Share on Facebook

Montfort Hospital fights proposed Kettle Island bridge

At a press conference on Nov. 5th, the the Montfort Hospital formally and publicly spoke out against the Kettle Island corridor.

As covered by CBC News:

Dr. Bernard Leduc, chief of staff at Montfort Hospital, said Wednesday at a news conference that he wants the National Capital Commission to consider the hospital’s concerns that a bridge at Kettle Island in the east end would result in:

• Traffic jams that inhibit access to the hospital by ambulances, patients and staff.
• Vibrations that could affect sensitive equipment such as MRIs.
• Noise that could hamper patients’ recovery.

“When you’re sick or when you just delivered [a baby], tranquility and peace is something that’s quite important for you in order to help you get well and recuperate better,” Leduc said.

Click here to view full the article.

In a follow-up article, Steve Taylor, the project manager for this study, stated the following:

“We have talked with the hospital before and we have heard their concerns. It isn’t anything that we weren’t aware of,” he said.  “Based on other roadway projects of a similar scope and magnitude, I’m not expecting it to be a show-stopper issue.”

Click here to view that article.

Share on Facebook

Montfort Hospital – How important is it?

There is a very high degree of likelihood that the MRI machines at the Montfort Hospital would be seriously impacted by the proximity of the proposed Kettle Island trucking route, which would pass within just a few metres of the hospital walls.

From an article on the subject:

Additionally, many MRIs are highly sensitive to vibration. Disruptive or crippling vibrations can be transmitted through the ground from cars, trucks and trains, sometimes from distances over 1,000 feet away. Similarly, vibrations from pumps, fans or motors that are commonly used throughout buildings can be transmitted across a building’s structural frame. Regardless of the origin, vibrations can impair an MRI’s image quality, particularly for many of the latest magnet systems, including 3.0 Tesla models and new high-field open MRIs. At the extreme end, harmonic or high-amplitude vibrations can cause quenches, running the risk of permanently crippling a $1 million magnet.

Click here for the complete article.

The good news is that the consultants have recognized this and have created a sub-factor specific to the MRI impacts at Montfort. The bad news is that this factor counts for only 0.09% (less than 1/1000) of the total score, ranking it tied for 84th place of the 91 factors considered.

The rest of the bad news is that there are no other factors that directly consider the negative impacts on the hospital, such as traffic congestion hindering ambulance access, costs of modifying access routes to the hospital, or disruption to patients and their healing process resulting from traffic noise and poor air quality.

Given the state of our current health care system and the importance of Montfort Hospital to the community, this doesn’t seem quite right.

What can you do about this? Post your comments and feedback on this website for others to see. Attend the Final Public Consultation to express your concerns and spread the word to encourage others to attend. Contact your local federal, provincial and city representatives who have been elected to act in your best interests.

Share on Facebook