Funding is now in place to complete a new Withdrawal Management Unit at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
Officials with the CKHA Foundation say $450,000 has been committed from donors across the municipality to help cover the remaining costs of renovating the former outpatient mental health building.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support that our community has shown in bringing this much-needed service to Chatham-Kent,” said Mary Lou Crowley, President/CEO of CKHAF. “The ongoing mental health and addiction crisis in our community has touched so many lives. As the link between the community and its local hospital sites, we are thrilled to be able to commit such a substantial sum of donor dollars to this project that will have a profound impact.”
The total cost of renovations for the project was listed at roughly $1.1 million, with a $500,000 contribution from the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, $150,000 from the Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton-Kent chapter, and an additional $100,000 in start-up costs from the Ministry of Health.
“On behalf of everyone at CKHA, we are profoundly grateful for the community’s overwhelming support of Withdrawal Management,” said Lori Marshall, President/CEO of CKHA. “Residents of Chatham-Kent have demonstrated a continued dedication to supporting key mental health initiatives. Along with the RAAM clinic’s expansion to our Wallaceburg Site in November of 2021, we are so delighted with the progress that is being made in the delivery of high-quality addiction care throughout our community.”
The facility, which will also house the relocated Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine, or RAAM Clinic, will include 10 beds, two “quiet rooms,” a therapy space, and dining room upgrade.
The hospital has been operating three withdrawal management beds since mid-March with the new, fully renovated facility expected to open in early August.