College health centre building gets $250K boost

The $22.4 million Regional Education Alliance for Community Health Centre under construction at Confederation College is on schedule, on budget and on Thursday received a $250,000 boost.

The John Andrews Foundation donated the cash to the college for the REACH Centre’s dental clinic, which will be named after the foundation’s namesake and the waiting room will be named in memory of dentist Donald A.C. Johnson.

“We like to see our founder John Andrews recognized so that his legacy is not forgotten,” said foundation board chairman Allan McKitrick, adding he’s also pleased with the waiting room dedication.

“He was a fine man and a fine dentist,” he said. “He was not only a friend of ours but he was a neighbour for many years of John Andrews and so there was a good connection there we felt was highly appropriate.”

The John Andrews Foundation has donated more than $800,000 to the college over the years and McKitrick said with the foundation limiting its contributions to Northwestern Ontario and the college’s role in education, health and the economy, it’s a good use of the donation.

They chose to specifically fund the dental clinic after hearing of the need for the clinic and seeing what it would look like upon completion and how it would help the people in Northwestern Ontario.
 
“We were persuaded this was a dandy, terrific kind of facility,” McKitrick said.

Confederation College president Pat Lang said support from the foundation is what makes the REACH project come alive.

“John Andrews himself had a deep social conscience and he was a very significant philanthropist for Northwestern Ontario,” she said. “He believed he needed to support projects that had an impact across Northwestern Ontario and this project will. To find partners who share similar values and a similar commitment to Northwestern Ontario, for us it’s very significant.”

Construction on the REACH facility began in October 2009 and will be finished by March 31; it was funded by the federal and provincial governments through the Knowledge Infrastructure Project.

The 47,000-square foot expansion to the Shuniah building will be the home to 16 health and community services programs including paramedics, law and security, personal support workers and medical radiation technologists.
Classes in the new centre will begin in September.