Lachine Hospital's ER to reopen without ICU units, sparking mixed emotions in community

The Lachine Hospital in Montreal is set to regain its 24-hour emergency services by this fall, according to the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

However, there will no longer be an intensive care unit, which has drawn criticism from medical staff and the borough's mayor.

The hospital's Conseil des médecins, dentistes et pharmaciens (CMDP) local committee president, Dr. Geneviève Chaput, compared the situation to a car without an engine.

"We have the emergency room, but we don't have the engine to care for patients who need to be transferred to other hospitals," she said.

Similarly, Dr. Ariane Murray, head of the Département régional de médecine générale de Montréal (DRMG), which represents 2,800 Montreal-area GPs, said, "It leaves us with a certain questioning about clinical trajectories and organization of care."

The announcement was made Wednesday after consulting with various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health. 

"The Lachine Hospital emergency department will gradually reopen over the next few months to finally be able to receive walk-in patients and ambulances 24 hours a day, seven days a week," the MUCH said in a news release.

For several months now, the ER has only received patients who can come by their own means between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Ambulances called to the area are diverted to other Montreal hospitals.

The MUHC says, due to the hospital's location a few kilometres away from other hospitals with ICU services, it would continue to transfer patients who require a higher level of care. 

However, this decision may result in a high number of transfers, leading to more ambulance travel and increased risk for patients, said Murray. This news comes at a time when there is an effort to minimize transfers, she added.

Additionally, she said, there could be staffing difficulties with the reopening of the emergency room and the planned addition of 20 hospital beds to the existing 36 beds over the next 12 to 18 months.

She said more beds could lead to more patients experiencing complications and becoming unstable without an ICU, which would further burden other hospitals.

Despite these concerns, the MUHC says it considers the hospital's revitalization plan to be an opportunity to modernize the facility. Roughly $220 million has been earmarked for that effort.

On Tuesday, a delegation of elected officials and citizens went to the National Assembly to demand that Minister Christian Dubé intervene and ensure a fully functional hospital is reopen to serve the community.