Clarification regarding the closure of The Children’s Clinic

In reference to a recent news article about the closure of The Children’s Clinic, the McGill University Health Centre would like to clarify the following:

Neither the MUHC nor its president Dr. Lucie Opatrny are responsible, nor should be blamed for The Children’s Clinic’s closure. The TCC was owned and operated by an independent entity, known as Brunswick Medical. As reported in other news articles, the clinic’s financial problems stem from the losses from the COVID-19 pandemic and a costly expansion project. Recently, the clinic’s current operator asked for protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in July 2023. The MUHC is but one of its many creditors.

The MUHC did show proof of flexibility when it asked the court, despite a huge financial loss in accumulated back rent, as well as unpaid municipal taxes, to extend the operation of the clinic by several weeks to allow alternate solutions to be found. Since the timeline of this process is imposed by the courts, the MUHC cannot be blamed for the clinic’s closure or for being inflexible.

Even though the MUHC was not responsible for TCC’s financial problems or closure, it was critical that it helped to ensure that children could continue to see their pediatrician and pediatric specialists. As such, the MUHC offered the possibility for MUHC physicians currently working at TCC to relocate to other clinics within the same building, as there was enough room to accommodate all the MUHC pediatricians working at the TCC. These doctors could not refer their patients back to the MUHC as there is not sufficient room in the clinics to absorb this volume. We understand that the pediatricians have arranged to maintain their practices in clinics that operate independently from the MUHC, either in the building located at 5100, de Maisonneuve or elsewhere.