Jewish General Hospital - Press releases

2012/09/20

Connecting Côte Saint-Luc to the hospital district

The City of Côte Saint-Luc and the Jewish General Hospital, in collaboration with Mobiligo and the Centre de gestion des déplacements de developpement économique Saint-Laurent (CGD DESTL) will announce on September 20 at a news conference a project to improve commuting to medical facilities in the Côte-des-Neiges district for the residents, workers and users. The goal of the project is to encourage single occupancy vehicle users to shift to environmentally-friendly transport practices, such as public transit, carpooling, walking and biking.

A survey of hospital employees is currently underway concerning their transportation needs to identify convenient options that could be offered to them, other than traveling alone in their car. Access to healthcare is more than having a family doctor; it is also being able to get to the doctor’s office without causing an impact on our health and our community environment.

In a context where the Jewish General Hospital is building new facilities, which will require more staff at a time when less parking spots are available due to construction, and since the hospital will be in a position to offer more healthcare services to the population, looking into the means of transportation used by the employees as well as the users seemed the right thing to do for the two partners involved in the project.

Mobiligo and CGD DESTL, will conduct a survey in order to identify the transportation needs of the employees and users commuting between Côte Saint-Luc and the medical facilities located in the Côte-des-Neiges district, such as the Jewish General Hospital, CHU Sainte-Justine and St. Mary’s Hospital Centre.

The Montreal Steering Committee on Seniors welcomes this initiative which will help support the needs of the ageing population in terms of transportation to and from the various healthcare services provided in the area.

"This project is an important initiative which will benefit the whole community, by providing much relief in a very congested area", says Anthony Housefather, Mayor of Côte Saint-Luc. "It is an important step towards developing and offering sustainable options of transport to our residents."

"The Jewish General Hospital is pleased to support this initiative, which will provide sustainable transport into the Côte-des-Neiges community," says Glenn J. Nashen, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at the Jewish General Hospital. "By promoting this shift from private to public transport, we hope to relieve some of the stress caused by congestion in the area, as well as aim to improve air quality, reduce noise pollution and limit greenhouse gas emissions for the betterment of the neighborhood."

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For more information contact: Dida Berku, Counsellor, City of Côte Saint-Luc, 514-531-6896, dberku@cotesaintluc.org.

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Régine Banon, Coordinator, Public Affairs and Communications, City of Côte Saint-Luc, 514-485-6800, ext. 1801, rbanon@cotesaintluc.org.