The Middlesex London Health Unit is inching closer to a new location.
Details of the new site won’t be released until a final proposal is worked out.
The chief medical officer of health, Chris Mackie is hopeful those details will be worked out in the coming weeks. He told the city’s community and protective services committee that they are currently in negotiations for a long-term lease at a new site.
The health unit has been looking for a new home since 2016. Currently, staff are split between 50 King St. and a secondary office at 201 Queens Ave.
Officials told the committee Monday afternoon a new site would allow the unit to enhance client and community experience and reunite all its workers under one roof, which Mackie says would also encourage more collaboration between departments.
The King Street site is owned by Middlesex County and is a valuable piece of riverfront property in London’s core, which the county plans to eventually develop into a 30-storey high rise.
There was a long list of requirements for the new site, preferably somewhere downtown, close to public transit, with plenty of parking.
Before any deal can be finalized, the health unit needs the green light from the two municipalities that help fund its work, London and Middlesex County.
After viewing details of the site, which are currently confidential, the community and protective services committee recommended that council endorses the plan.
It will go before full council next Tuesday, the same day the health unit will present its proposal to Middlesex County.
In 2015, Middlesex County informed MLHU of its intention to redevelop the site on King Street, which got the health unit looking for a permanent site.