The community of Blenheim will have a brand new Health Hub, thanks in part to a donation from a local couple.
Last night, the Blenheim Medical Health Foundation, a newly formed charitable organization, held an event to launch the creation of a health hub moving into the former Andersons/Thompsons office building on Hyland Drive. The 26,000-square-foot building is all on one floor.
Foundation chair Ed O’Brien made a surprise and sudden announcement, saying that Annie and Peter Timmermans had bought the building and were turning it over to the Blenheim Medical Health Foundation.
O’Brien said the Timmermans told him about the donation just before the event kicked off. It was so sudden that many of the foundation’s board members were not aware of the news until the announcement.
O’Brien said the surprising news from the Timmermans “floored him,”
“It’s a wonderful thing what just happened in Blenheim, wonderful,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said with the donation, all the money raised can go towards upgrading the building into a Health Hub, rather than having to pay for the building.
Besides the Timmermans’ donation, O’Brien said an anonymous donor has given the foundation $625,000 to help create the Health Hub.
It’s expected that once renovated and equipped, the new Health Hub will be up and running by the fall of 2025.
Blenheim family doctor Dr. Andrew Lanz-O’Brien said there is poor access to medical care in Canada, especially in rural areas. He said the goal is to have the Health Hub provide every healthcare service that Blenheim and area residents need at the site.
He said the Health Hub will also serve to attract and retain medical professionals in Blenheim.
“What we have planned here is going to change the face of health care in Blenheim, South Kent, and Chatham-Kent as a whole,” said Dr. Lanz-O’Brien.
Dr. Lanz-O’Brien said after planning for the new building is complete, the foundation plans on funding scholarships for local students interested in medical careers and want to come back to the area.