MONTREAL, July 16 (UPI) -- Shriners Hospitals for Children says it will construct a $100 million hospital in Montreal on land adjacent to its current 85-year-old facility.
The new facility will replace the Montreal's Children's Hospital, which is in need of repair, as part of the McGill University Health Center, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News reported Friday.
The announcement came after 10 years of delay, bids by other cities to have the hospital moved and after the plan was almost derailed by the recession, CBC news said.
But Quebec "fought hard to ensure that the hospital stayed at home," provincial Health Minister Yves Bolduc said.
"The construction project ... is part of the investments we have made to upgrade our infrastructure in the healthcare system," Bolduc said.
"We have known for some time that a new hospital was needed and we have focused our efforts on making this become a reality for our patients," Gary Morrison, former chairman of the board at Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada, said.
The new hospital, with 22 single-patient rooms, four operating rooms and more than 25,000 square feet of research space, is expected to be completed by 2014, CBC News reported.
