LETTER

LETTRE

Hospital for Aylmer, please

 

More people are realizing the anomaly of Aylmer as the only sector in Gatineau that has no hospital.
    On February 5, a massive fifteen page insert was published in Le Droit, lobbying to have the new hospital built in Hull.  Many of the arguments put forth could easily apply to Aylmer. But one important issue seems left aside in its argumentation: demographics.
    Aylmer's population is rapidly reaching that of Hull and is possibly now close to it. Yet Hull is already well-endowed in health services and has a huge health complex in the area delimited by St-Raymond, Moussette, Gamelin and Lac-des-fées streets. In this block, there is a large hospital, a physical rehab centre, a long term care unit and another building under construction. Hull also benefits from several specialized medicine clinics, family medicine clinics and a CLSC.
    And what do we have here in Aylmer? A small CLSC and a few family medicine clinics, that is to say, no services for major emergencies and no specialized medicine clinics.
    A new hospital, if established in Aylmer, could also serve patients from Hull and Pontiac County.
    I hope that the Health Ministry Committee will logically examine demographic considerations in choosing a location for the new hospital, unlike the powerful lobby pushing to add a second hospital in the Hull sector.
Marc Landry
Aylmer