Hamilton Urban Core receives $15.4M to grow into future health centre
A longtime community health hub in downtown Hamilton is receiving $15.4 million toward its plan to move to a larger new location.
The Ontario government announced the funding for Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre on Friday.
For years, it was executive director Denise Brooks's vision" to move the health centre into a purpose-built location, says agency board chair Jane Mulkewich. But Brooks died suddenly at the age of 64 in August.
This has been at least a decade coming, and we're finally getting closer to that vision," Mulkewich said Friday.
The inner-city health centre has been a fixture at a former bus station on Rebecca Street for about 25 years.
That old station, which has been in bad need of repair," was never well-suited for a health centre, Mulkewich said.
The agency plans to build a two-storey building at 430 Cannon St. E., a property near Wentworth Street North it purchased for $1.3 million.
The new centre is to offer more space for medical examinations, oral health, chiropody and counselling.
It will also offer additional room for the hub's supervised injection site, known as consumption and treatment services (CTS) in Ontario.
The future building will have spaces for partners of the agency, including support groups, to gather and will feature a community kitchen.
Mulkewich said the $15.4 million is meant to cover the hiring of a consultant to see the plan through, architectural design and construction, which she expects will start in February 2021. A move-in date is likely two years away, she noted.
Overall, we're really enjoying having the opportunity to design a building that reflects the kind of services that we want to provide and the community that we want to build."
That involves creating a space that gives people great dignity instead of coming into this rundown building" that has needed work for years.
So we're really hoping that it will be a source of pride for the community; a source of health and well-being, really."
In a press release, local MPP Donna Skelly said Urban Core has helped and improved the lives of thousands of inner-city residents" for years.
This $15.4-million investment in a redeveloped community health centre will continue to support a healthier inner-city community in Hamilton."
Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com