After three decades at 1005 Ouellette Avenue, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit is looking for a new home.
The lease at the Windsor office expires at the end of next year, and it needs help from the public to find just the right spot.
The health unit's services have grown considerably, and CEO Nicole Dupuis said the agency has outgrown the building in Windsor.
"Our hope for the new building is that it will be more accessible, definitely more client-centred," she said.
Dental services are just one area where services have expanded. The health unit provides care for low-income children and seniors. More recently, it has offered hours in the evening to accommodate the demand.
The demand for vaccine services has grown too. The health unit has always held clinics at the Windsor office, but the need has expanded exponentially through the pandemic.
In addition to those, the health unit also offers new mothers advice on breastfeeding, training for food handlers, and smoking cessation support.
The search began at the beginning of the year, but the health unit has not settled on any location.
"We're just in the initial stages of gathering information," she explained. "Downtown is one of the areas -- but we are open to a wider area."
The health unit has surveyed its partners in the community and now needs input from residents about what they would like to see at its new home. It launched a public survey this week.
It hopes to issue a request for proposals where landlords would submit properties for consideration. The request would include feedback from the community.
"We have done some work to map out where our clients are predominantly. Where are they living?" said Dupuis. "We have also mapped out where do we go when we go out. Our field workers, for example, when our nurses go out to the schools, and when our inspectors go out to restaurants."
Transit routes and how far clients would walk are also considerations.
The health unit also has an office in the county, at 33 Princess Street in Leamington.
