Health center looks to open new office in North Canaan

By Colleen Gundlach

Twenty years ago, Community Health & Wellness Center (CHWC) opened the doors to their small, two-room clinic at the Brooker Memorial site in Torrington. Now, in 2022, they have two full-size clinics—one in Torrington and one in Winsted—and are looking forward to opening a third one, in North Canaan.

Community Health & Wellness is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FHQHC) offering a wide range of health care service to area residents who are underserved or unserved in terms of access to health care.  There are only 17 such federally qualified centers in Connecticut and CHWC is the only one in the Northwest Corner.

The center was originally a part of the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital while at Brooker Memorial. Eventually the hospital could no longer financially afford to maintain the business, so CHWC was closed.

This was a huge loss to people who had no other means of accessing reliable health care. “Our mission is to be the safety net for people who are vulnerable and underserved,” says CHWC Chief Executive Officer Joanne Borduas. “No one is turned away.”

The need was still there, even though CHWC was not, so it wasn’t long before a grassroots groundswell of support raised enough money for CHWC to purchase an empty grocery store building (the former Mencuccini’s) at 469 Migeon Avenue in Torrington. They renovated the building into medical office space. The group was able to secure the FHQHC designation and obtain grants from the Foundation for Community Health and other sources. By 2009 it had constructed a 24,000-square-foot new space adjacent to the grocery store building and had renovated the original building to include dental services and administrative space. 

The Winsted branch was originally located in the former Winsted Memorial Hospital building, but in the interest of having a more central, more easily accessed building, the center relocated to 10 Center Street, where they completely renovated half of the former Super Saver grocery store. The Winsted office opened in July 2019 and includes beautiful medical offices that house physicians, dentists, nutrition and mental health services. 

The need for an office in North Canaan was identified roughly 19 years ago, when it was determined that North Canaan and surrounding towns would soon reach a critical point of lacking primary care services. North Canaan was seen as centrally located, with the potential to be the hub for the Northwest Corner and a good location to provide the much-needed medical services. At the time, with only one primary care physician remaining in North Canaan, the town was also determined to be underserved in meeting the primary care needs of the area. There is also no primary care available in Cornwall. 

The CHWC staff worked closely with Nancy Heaton of the Foundation for Community Health but were unable to secure property for the new clinic at that time. 

In 2018 they began the search again and secured property on East Main Street, diagonally across from Stop & Shop. “This is ideal property,” says Borduas. “It’s centrally located close to downtown North Canaan and easily accessible.” 

Funding for the new building will come from bonding and from grants—a $3 million grant from the state and $1.3 million from the Foundation for Community Health. Requests for proposals will be going out soon, with a goal of opening the doors of the new center by the end of 2023. “We are hoping we can get a shovel in the ground before this coming winter,” Borduas says.

The North Canaan office of CHWC will house primary care providers—physicians and advanced practice nurses (APRNs)—as well as mental health services. A dental office was also planned for the site, but it turns out that there will not be enough space. “We had wanted to build a large one-level building, but wetlands setback requirements did not make that possible,” Borduas says. “As a result, our building will be two floors and less space than we had hoped, not allowing enough space for dental offices. It’s very disappointing, but any of our patients who need dental care will be referred to Torrington or Winsted.”

Transportation to other towns is an issue for some CHWC patients, but not an issue for CHWC. “We will be working on partnering with other businesses in town, as well as transportation services and community partners such as Geer, who has transportation services available, to get our patients transportation when they need to leave the Northwest Corner.” 

Community Health & Wellness provides many services beyond those of a regular doctor’s office. “We are a hybrid, unique model,” says Borduas. “We have services under one roof that are not available in most offices, such as a chiropractor, a podiatrist, women’s health services, HIV testing, allergy testing and diabetic and nutrition services. If a patient needs something we can’t provide, we are well connected in our service areas and will work with our community partners such as Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, UConn Medical Center and Sharon Hospital. We strive to have no gaps in service for our patients so that they have the best health outcomes.”

Eligibility specialists will be available on a regular basis to help with insurance eligibility such as obtaining insurance through the market exchange or applying for Medicare or Medicaid.

Borduas says that the strength of the CHWC is “in our uniqueness. We are a one-stop shop, with many services under one roof.” They are also a nonprofit organization. While 35 to 40 percent of their costs are funded by grants, additional monies are needed to offset some of the costs. She continues that “with salaries at an astronomical level today given the workforce issues since the pandemic, we rely more and more on our annual fundraiser and regular contributions. I am very grateful for the warm welcome we have been receiving in North Canaan and for the support from both the Foundation for Community Health and their board of directors. Also, State Representative Maria Horn was instrumental in helping us with the bonding award, and we are thankful to the North Canaan town and the Berkshire Taconic Foundation for their contributions.”

To learn more about how to make an appointment to become a patient with CHWC, go to chwctorr.org or call 860-489-9831.