Ottawa Looks to Off-Load Costly, Seldom-Used Mobile Hospitals Bought for the Pandemic

Ottawa Looks to Off-Load Costly, Seldom-Used Mobile Hospitals Bought for the Pandemic
A field hospital in the parking lot of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on March 31, 2021. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn
The Canadian Press
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The federal government expects to spend about $7 million this fiscal year to store and maintain four custom-made, portable hospitals that cost taxpayers more than $200 million to buy—facilities meant to bolster overwhelmed hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic that were barely used.

Early on in the pandemic, as the federal government moved at breakneck speed to respond to a global health crisis, it issued rush orders for these Mobile Health Units.