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Montreal’s old Royal Victoria Hospital to be converted to COVID-19 isolation unit for homeless
The 19th-century former hospital on the flank of Mount Royal has served as an overflow shelter for Montreal’s homeless throughout the winter, however, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said new places will be found to accommodate people who’ve been staying there. The Ross Pavilion originally opened in 1916 and housed private patient rooms. Now it is going…
The 19th-century former hospital on the flank of Mount Royal has served as an overflow shelter for Montreal's homeless throughout the winter, however, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said new places will be found to accommodate people who've been staying there.
The old Royal Victoria Hospital on the flank of Mount Royal, which has served as a temporary overflow shelter for homeless Montrealers and their pets for the last two winters, is being converted into a COVID-19 isolation unit for homeless people awaiting testing or those who become infected.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said those now staying at the shelter are going to be moved to various locations identified by the city, in collaboration with homeless organizations.
Dr. Mylène Drouin, the director of public health for Montreal, said the Royal Victoria will be repurposed as a place for homeless people to stay while they await test results or once they have been found to be positive but are not so sick that require hospitalization.
Winter is not over yet, and “we cannot afford to leave more people outside in the current situation,” said Dr. Julie Grenier, an official with the regional health authority, the CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal.
“There will be about 50 places to begin with but that will continue to change,” Grenier said. “There is capacity for 100, 150 people. They will do what needs to be done to take in the people that need it.”
Grenier said the city wants to ensure that during the crisis, community organizations have a place to send clients who are possibly infected by the novel coronavirus, so they don't try to isolate them in their own often-crowded facilities.
Montreal is also continuing to offer municipal staff to Moisson Montréal, the city's largest food bank, to help maintain operations during the volunteer shortage.
Plante said the city is also installing public toilets with running water in strategic spots and sharing the location of those washrooms with local homeless advocacy groups and organizations to ensure people have a clean place to use the restroom and to wash. Most will be around the downtown area, she said.
She said Centraide Montreal has offered hygiene products and similar items to help in the “team effort.”
“Things are changing. We need to adapt,” she said.
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