Liberal leader Dominique Anglade gave a press conference in Vaudreuil on Friday in front of the plot on which the new local hospital is to be built. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

Vaudreuil-Dorion, Qc – The Liberal Party (PLQ) is set to add 2,000 additional hospital beds for $6.6 billion funded with the cancellation of the Quebec-Lévis CAQ tunnel project.

A liberal government would also reopen compensation agreements with doctors, but leave them the right to manage their budgets as they see fit.

That’s what Liberal leader Dominique Anglade said at a press conference in Vaudreuil on Friday in front of the plot on which the new local hospital is to be built.

This commitment is not part of the QLP’s financial framework, which already includes total spending of $41 billion over five years.

The $6.6 billion would be more of an addition to the Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI).

The PLQ’s official commitment is to add 4,000 additional hospital beds, but 2,000 of those beds are already earmarked for in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan (PQI).

The PLQ therefore wants to increase the ratio from 1.8 beds per 1,000 population to 2.5 beds per 1,000 population in order to match the Canadian average.

Compensation Agreements

An Anglade government would also renegotiate remuneration agreements with physicians, particularly in relation to “special medical activities”.

But reviewing their pay is out of the question: “What will be part of the Accords reopening is the ability to serve the population,” Ms Anglade said.

The reimbursement agreements have been sharply criticized by the Auditor General for their opaqueness, but the Liberal leader has no intention of attacking the prerogative of doctors from the various associations to manage their reimbursement envelopes.