A new francophone health centre will reunite staff under one roof and offer more services.
Today, ground was broken for the new Centre de santé communautaire de Timmins (CSC Timmins) at 120 Kent Ave. Once complete, it will bring all of the organization’s medical and mental health services under one roof again.
“I have to admit I haven’t slept much in the last 24 hours, just the anticipation. I didn’t actually think this day was ever going to happen,” said CSC executive director Michelle Stevens. “It’s very exciting to have lots of support. The community is very excited.”
The previous building, which was the former École catholique St-Charles, was demolished in 2022.
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The medical clinic is currently operating at the Timmins Square, and the administrative staff has been working from offices on Wilson Avenue while the new facility is completed.
For the new facility, the province is pitching in over $16 million, which includes $1.1 million for early planning work and $15.6 million for construction.
It will expand the services offered to include childhood education, physiotherapy, and better accessibility. Medical students will also be trained on-site, working with family physicians.
Mayor Michelle Boileau said CSC Timmins facility will be of great importance to the community going forward.
“What this means for the community is just better access to healthcare,” she said. “It just means that with this, we’re breaking down barriers to understanding, to better supports.”
President of the CSC board of directors Karine Briand said everyone is looking forward to having a permanent home.
“I came on in 2020, and this project has been in the works for years and years and years, and I’m the lucky one who gets into the final stage, where we can make it a reality,” she said. “We’ve got the drawings, the vision of what it’s going to look like, and we see the beginning and somewhat of an end where we can move in!”
Having more space will allow the organization to fill more positions and offer more to the francophone community, she said.
“To have everyone under one roof is going to be exciting,” she said. “We’ve got job postings that we just can’t fill because we don’t have the space so we’ll be able to fill those spots and service our community to a much higher capacity.”
Both Timmins MPP George Pirie and Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry MPP Nolan Quinn, parliamentary assistant to the minister of health, attended the event and spoke about the importance of access to healthcare and education.
“It’s essential for the community,” said Quinn. “Ontario is a bilingual province, so to ensure that our aging population to ensure that they have appropriate care in the language that they choose, as well as cultural care for specific cultures, that’s extremely important because people need to be comfortable in their healthcare system.”
He said that centres like the one being built in Timmins are crucial to keeping healthcare professionals in the region.
“Having brand new facilities makes it easier to attract new physicians,” he added.
Pirie said the event was an excellent sign for the community.
“To be able to get their health services in their preferred language is just tremendous, and it’s tremendous for the City of Timmins,” said Pirie. “And it’s a great thing for the medical students right here, practicing in their language of preference, and it’s a very important factor for the government of Ontario to be able to provide that.”
The project is anticipated to be completed in May 2025. The exterior of the building will hopefully be completed by October so that interior work can be completed over the winter.
“I am certain that the team is going to be really excited to work together and be close to each other, to just be able to pop in and ask a question directly,” said Briand.
