TIMMINS - Progress is being made on a new francophone health centre.
Construction on the Centre de santé communautaire de Timmins (CSC Timmins) is set to be completed by June 2025. The facility, located at 120 Kent Ave., will enhance accessibility, expand services and provide space for community programs.
In mid-December, CSC Timmins executive director Michelle Stevens said the crews were working on the interior framing work.
“There were other buildings that were on that property prior. So there were a couple hurdles with regards to site work and finding some concrete and some original sewage tanks from way back,” she said.
The project has stayed on track and on budget, Stevens said.
Ground was broken in May of this year, with the project being funded by over $16 million from the province, including $1.1 million for early planning and $15.6 million for construction.
SEE: Ground officially broken on new Timmins health centre
The previous building on the site, the former École catholique St-Charles, was demolished in 2022.
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.
The new facility will improve operations and accessibility for both staff and clients, Stevens said. The consolidation of services will eliminate confusion around appointment locations, reduce barriers for clients and foster stronger internal communication among team members.
“It will just take away so many barriers to accessibility for clients. Remove confusion with regards to location of appointments. It will strengthen the team and the internal communication within team members. We’re counting down the days,” she said.
The new space will allow the centre to offer community programming currently limited by a lack of facilities, Stevens said. Programs such as fall prevention, chair yoga and brain function activities will be held on-site rather than in rented gyms or outdoor spaces.
Stevens said patients can look forward to easier parking, a single-level building with no stairs and a streamlined experience where multiple services — such as nurse practitioner visits, physiotherapy and social work — can all happen under one roof, in a safe location.
“It's stressful for clients to move around from one location to the other. Especially for the older population, parking is an issue,” she said.
Stevens highlighted the benefits of the new design.
“Because we don’t have sufficient exam rooms right now, we have to offer a lot of virtual appointments and structure schedules in a way that’s more complicated for staff. With the new centre, we’ll be able to open up so many more in-person appointments with access to exam rooms,” she said.
The facility will also include sufficient exam rooms to offer paediatric services to the community and surrounding areas at large, as well as to accommodate “baby orphan patients.”
