TIMMINS - With no word on what cities are getting the new mental health and addiction treatment hubs, the local social services agency is honouring bookings at the hotel it recently bought.
People driving past 1800 Riverside Dr. in Timmins have noticed vehicles and delivery trucks at the former Ramada Inn, which the Cochrane District Services Board (CDSB) bought for $11 million in December.
People are staying in a block of rooms at the building, hall bookings are being honoured and some renovations have started, CDSB director of health Jean Carriere confirmed this week.
The agency's ultimate goal is to use the building for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub and it's applied for provincial funding to be one of the 19 facilities.
While the province announced the nine supervised consumption sites transitioning to a HART Hub last week, applications for the 10 remaining sites are still under review. The goal is for the facilities to open by April 1.
For now, 15 of the 105 rooms are being used for Indigenous housing programs and a project with one of the women's shelters, said Carriere.
The agencies, which are paying CDSB for the space, know that if HART Hub funding comes through for Timmins, the space will be needed and other alternatives will have to be looked at, he said.
"They had a block of rooms that are being utilized, but they're for long-term tenants ... one of the people that's been there has been there for over a year, so that's what we've continued. We're not renting the place as a hotel, you can't walk up and just rent a room," said Carriere.
CDSB is also using the building to house visiting out-of-town staff.
"We do that in other areas, we keep two apartments in Moosonee for our staff when they go up there for meetings or for work. So this is kind of a similar concept," he said.
During the day, there may be extra foot traffic because CDSB staff are using the building for meeting space and previous bookings for the conference room are being honoured.
Two rooms have also had minor "lipstick renovations," including plastering, painting, and replacing flooring.
The launch of the proposed Wellness Centre of Excellence (WCE), the moniker for the local HART Hub project, has been controversial.
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A tense public meeting drew hundreds of people to the facility, though many could not get through the doors.
Some of the concerns have been the location and that CDSB will stray from its intended purpose.
In the public conversations so far, CDSB hasn't talked about honouring bookings at the site.
Carriere said they didn't advertise when the building was being taken over. That was part of the agreement with the previous owner.
"They wanted to keep operating the hotel to the very last day, to the very last minute. We definitely respected that, so there wouldn't have been any communication ahead of time in regards to the rentals or what was going on at the building. And then we haven't announced any additional things going on with the building, because we're still in limbo," he said.
What's a HART Hub
The WCE is a proposed centralized service hub aiming to offer primary care, addiction and mental health services, Indigenous-focused care, supportive housing with services, and life skill and employment training. It would not be an emergency shelter, offer harm reduction supplies or be a supervised consumption site.
CDSB is asking for up to $6.3 million annually for three years and up to $1.8 million in one-time funding. Under the HART Hub model, $1.3 million of the $6.3 million annually would be specifically for supportive housing. Major capital costs for new or full building renovations are not eligible for funding.
When the HART Hub application was submitted in October 2024, Timmins and District Hospital was the primary health provider, which is the agency the funding will transfer through.
Since then, Carriere said the hospital has voiced concerns. It is no longer acting in that role.
The change has been shared with the Ministry of Health, and Carriere said it's not an issue. Either the Canadian Mental Health Association and Mushkegowuk Council, who are each a primary partner in the project, could act as the transfer agency, though who would do it hasn't been chosen.
When the province announced the supervised consumption sites transitioning to HART Hubs on Jan. 2, they said the rest of the locations would be announced in the coming weeks but did not give a specific date.
While the CDSB has promised to update a website dedicated to the project regularly, the FAQs are still dated October 2024.
As soon as there's a funding announcement, Carriere said there will be small-session consultations with groups such as near neighbours and residents who live in the area.
If they're successful in getting funding, there will be a phased-in approach to the renovations and programming offered.
