It appears the Legault government will announce a new location for the proposed new Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital by the end of the week — or early next week at the latest.
The previous Liberal government had announced two years ago that it would be built near the intersections of Highways 30 and 40, but last December, health minister Danielle McCann hinted that it might not necessarily go there, because the land is currently zoned agricultural.
That announcement raised hackles from the mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Guy Pilon, who said at the time the city had already moved to expropriate the land needed to direct water to the new hospital site.
The Montreal Gazette reports a meeting had taken place earlier this month involving Pilon and Marilyne Picard, the CAQ MNA for Soulanges, but not with Marie-Claude Nichols, the Liberal MNA for Vaudreuil.
Picard indicated a decision on whether to set up the new building on the original site, or move it somewhere else, would happen within days.
For the moment, the hospital is on track to welcome its first patients by 2027, though Pilon, who favors the site on Highways 30 and 40, had suggested that date could be pushed back if the government goes for an entirely new site.