Montreal officials defend Inuit health centre

Montreal health officials are trying to allay local fears abouta plan to convert a former hospital into a rooming house forInuit visitingthe city for medical care.

The intention toretrofit the former Chinese hospital on Saint Denis Street in Villeray has been met with trepidation byresidents and elected officials who say they are concerned about an influx of drugs and alcoholif patients are brought infrom Nunavik, the far northern region of Quebec.

People in the neighbourhood say the former hospital could be better used to serve the local population.

"I want to try to help people from my village, before trying to help people from somewhere else," said Nicolas Quenville, a Villeray resident who attended a community meeting Wednesday nightto discuss the hospital plan. Elderly neighbours are regularly sent away for care when "they should stay here," Quenville told officials and residents at the meeting.

The borough's mayor,Anie Samson, hasopposedthe plan from its inception. "I think this is the last building we can give to [local] citizens," she said.

Montreal's public health department picked the former Chinese hospital because of its size. Inuit patients are currently housed in sevenlocations across the city, and are carried by bus to the Montreal General Hospital for treatment.

It makes sense to keep everyone under the same roof, "so that the Inuit people can be welcomed, can be in an environment that is more conducive to health care," said David Levine, president of the Montreal Public Health Agency. "What we're looking for is a residential community."

Concerns aboutdrug and alcohol use are unfounded, Levine told the meeting. "The majority of the population [sent for treatment] are children, young people, and elderly people that come for health care services," he said. "This is not a community that would disturb the residents at all."

If the project goes ahead, Nunavik patients will be sent to the converted hospital as early as this fall.