Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal

The Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) is located at 1051 Sanguinet Street, in downtown Montreal, Québec. It operates as a public university health centre affiliated with Université de Montréal. CHUM was formed by the merger of three legacy hospitals (Hôtel-Dieu, Notre-Dame, Saint-Luc) and its new integrated megahospital complex opened progressively from 2017.

Services and Facilities

• CHUM has over 1,200 beds serving local, regional and supraregional populations, in general, specialized and superspecialized care.
• It offers a wide range of specialty departments: emergency care, intensive care, surgery (many specialties), obstetrics, oncology, cardiology, neurology, neuroscience, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, lab services etc.
• The CHUM includes the CRCHUM (its research centre), which conducts basic, clinical, population health research; it has units like the Unit for Innovative Therapies (phase 1-2 clinical trials) and other core research facilities.

Practical Information for Patients

• You can manage appointments (“Mes rendez-vous”), prepare for surgery (“Préparer mon opération”), and access patient records / forms via CHUM’s website. The hospital also offers telehealth where relevant.
• For visiting, admission, preparing for hospital stay, directions, and public transit / parking, CHUM website provides guides / maps. Construction or traffic disruptions around CHUM may affect access.
• For high-complexity treatments (e.g. innovative therapies or trials), sometimes a referral is needed. Patients may need to plan ahead, especially for specialized or research-based services.

Strengths & Role

• CHUM is a flagship centre in Québec for hospital-based research, innovation in precision medicine and complex clinical care. Its CRCHUM is internationally recognized.
• The megahospital design consolidates many services, which helps reduce duplication, improve coordination, and often enhances patient experience in terms of facilities.
• CHUM plays a major teaching role with Université de Montréal: medical students, residents, allied health, etc., are trained in many specialties.

Considerations for Patients

• Given its scale, navigating services may be challenging: finding the correct clinic, entrance or department requires checking the map / instructions.
• Because of high demand for specialized treatments, wait times for some specialty clinics, diagnostics or elective surgeries may be longer.
• Parking, public transit, traffic around downtown CHUM can be congested; arriving early is recommended.