CORNWALL, Ontario – Ground was broken Friday, kind of, on a new addiction and mental health centre in Cornwall.
The new centre will bring seven existing Cornwall Community Hospital programs under one roof and is expected to be completed within a year.
While organizers of a ground-breaking ceremony were forced to bring the event indoors to avoid the rain Friday, they were excited to announce a project that will incorporate everything from withdrawal management to crisis counselling into one facility.
The $9.3-million project includes a new building on the former paramedic headquarters north of the hospital on McConnell Avenue.
A fundraising campaign has already begun, with the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation providing $1.2 million towards the end goal.
Of that money some $350,000 has already been committed, including a $250,000 pledge from the Cornwall Service Club Council.
“We’re very pleased this project will bring all of our services under one roof,” said hospital CEO Jeanette Despatie. “The needs are frightening.”
Indeed, statistics provided at the event Friday show that 33 million Canadians are grappling with depression and as many as one quarter of all children who require mental health treatment are not able to receive it.
“It reinforces for all of us the attention” this issue deserves, said Despatie.
Marvin Plumadore, vice-president of the service club council, said this marks the first occasion where his group (which includes a myriad of local philanthropic agencies) will work towards a common goal.
“It’s our first foray into working on something as a unit,” he said. “I believe we are the only service club council in Ontario…and you’d be hard-pressed to find one in the country that works for the community the way we do.”
Bourgon Construction has been secured to complete construction of the new facility, with an estimated delivery time of about a year.
The hospital’s mental health crisis team, withdrawal management services, addiction services, children’s mental health department, adult counselling, psycho-geriatric services and assertive community treatment team will all be moving to the new digs.
Costs are expected to be saved on utilities, mortgages and operations as a result of the move.
