Community health centre in Fredericton to get new home

The Downtown Community Health Centre in Fredericton is making plans to move to a new facility adjacent to the former Victoria Health Centre in 2016.

Joan Kingston, the health centre's nurse manager, told the centre's supporters in a letter the new building will be constructed at the west end of the former Victoria Health Centre on the site of the former nurses' residence.

"It will be three times the size of our current space and will have state-of-the-art learning areas for students in addition to first-class treatment and service facilities for clients," stated Kingston in her letter.

The Downtown Community Health Centre is a partnership between the Horizon Health Network and the University of New Brunswick Community Health Clinic. It serves as a teaching facility where private health-care services, teaching and research are combined.

In August 2014, the health centre moved into temporary space in the Centennial Building, which allowed it to double its capacity for treating patients.

In the new setting, the centre was able to hire two additional nurses, another nurse practitioner and another social worker. Another physician also recently started working with the centre.

"We are now able to take new patients and we are actually reducing the wait list for those looking for a family doctor in Fredericton," wrote Kingston.

Funding has been approved for the new facility to be built, she said, and a lot has been cleared and leveled in preparation for construction.

The move to a new facility in 2016 will mean adding more health professionals, stated Kingston. The centre plans to add another physician, two nurses, two nurse practitioners, a respiratory therapist, a dietician, more social workers and an occupational therapist.

"This will allow for the creation of a 'hub' of services in the community that family health teams and groups of doctors can utilize, in addition to expanding the services to our existing clientele," stated Kingston.