Letter to the editor, March 31, 2016

Open letter to Dr. Gaétan Barrette

Ministre de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec

Dear Dr. Barrette,

As you know, the Sainte Anne de Bellevue Veterans Hospital, currently under the Department of Veterans Affairs, will be transferred April 1 to the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec.

As part of this transfer, I ask you to consider the possibility of renaming the building, a wing or annex with the name of one of its chief architects, Dr. Lionel Leblanc (1916-1982), my uncle, who was also the first general manager of the hospital.

Dr. Leblanc was a captain in the Medical Corps of the Canadian army during World War II, during which he served most notably in England and France. The realization of the Sainte Anne de Bellevue Veterans Hospital was his life’s work to which I bore witness.

I sincerely hope you will consider my request.

Please accept my best wishes,

Roger Desautels

Prévost, Québec

Formerly of Hudson