Midland councillors liked what they saw during a tour of the town’s new Community Health Hub this week.
“It’s a long-time coming and a wonderful building,” Mayor Stewart Strathearn said. “I think it’s all we hoped for and more with a lot of functionality and the colours are soothing.”
The health hub located off Bayshore Drive is home to Centre de santé communautaire Chigamik Community Health Centre and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care’s outpatient and community programs.
Led by Waypoint CEO Carol Lambie and Chigamik executive director David Jeffery, Strathearn and councillors Cher Cunningham, Bill Gordon and Jonathan Main got a first-hand look at the facilities that include new digs for Waypoint’s Hero’s Centre and Chigamik, which had been located in a King Street strip mall.
The councillors were also hand to donate $10,000 to the health hub through the town’s community grant program, which aims to enhance and improve the well-being and quality of life for the citizens of Midland by providing financial assistance for not-for-profit community-based organizations.
The health hub funding will be used to purchase furnishings and equipment to provide a modern and vibrant environment for patients, clients and youth from the area.
The town also donated a portion of Edgehill Park to allow for building construction.
Gordon, who was involved in the charge against the controversial donation of parkland, said he had mixed emotions touring the facility.
"It's very nice architecturally and a beautiful building," Gordon said, adding "this property was a formative issue for me so I have mixed feelings."
That said, Gordon said the services offered at the health hub are greatly needed in the Midland area.
The building, which officially opened in June with limited in-person services due to COVID-19, serves to bring together primary health care, community programs and mental health care under one roof. With many other community organizations sharing the space including the North Simcoe Youth Wellness Hub, the majority of the programs and services are available to every Midland/North Simcoe resident.
Although many of the programs at the health hub are currently being offered virtually due to the pandemic, as in-person services and programs begin to return, the Hub will be a hive of activity, with many community programs and services offered throughout the building.
Added Strathearn: “The services offered here are needed, especially at this time. The town is proud to support this project and we look forward to when it can fully open for in-person services.”
In a release, Lambie and Jeffery reiterated their thanks for the town’s help over the years.
“The Town of Midland has supported the Community Health Hub from the very beginning by generously providing the land,” they noted in a joint statement. “We are so thankful for the continued support of local healthcare and for this donation.”
