Panel and committee findings were then tested and fine-tuned through public hearings, focus groups, interviews with some 400 pharmaceutical and medical imaging professionals, and discussions between professors last spring at the largest faculty retreat in McGill history. It also recognizes that the patient and family are central to the way care is organized, and that the physical environment is a tool in the healing process. Parallel to the consultation process was a study of the MUHC's existing buildings by a consortium of international architects and engineers. In a report to the MUHC's board of directors, the experts recommended the construction of a new facility on a new site. The 43-acre site, which must undergo extensive decontamination work, is located just west of Montreal's downtown core and is easily accessible by road and pubic transportation.
Several hurdles remain to be cleared, however.
The university will take out a mortgage to pay for the balance, an amount it expects to pay off rapidly through operational cost savings. The MUHC is now conducting a due diligence study on the Glen Yard to determine the impact the facility will have on the surrounding environment, economy, traffic, transportation and zoning. If all goes according to plan, construction on the new facility will begin in early 2001 with the new hospital's opening set for sometime in 2004.