Health center gets a fixup

WINSTED — Renovation work has begun at the Winsted Health Center, with center staff expecting the new roof to be in place and completed as early as the end of this week.

“The roof is almost 75 percent done,� Kris Griffin, executive assistant to the center’s board of directors, told The Journal Monday.

She said the renovation work
began at the facility on Nov. 23.

“They are doing a great job,� Griffin said of Diamond Inc., the Waterbury-based company in charge of the roof repairs.

Also, several pot holes in the center’s back parking lot have been patched as part of the first phase of the renovation project.

“It’s going well,� Griffin said.

The center, located at 115 Spencer St., received a $131,000 federal grant for the renovations earlier this fall.

The grant will fund a series of substantial repairs on the two buildings that make up the facility — one built in 1902, the other built in 1957.

In addition to the new roof, other projects include the installation of new automatic doors and entrance ramps and new stone work for the 1902 building.

In addition, the center’s 1957 building, which houses the facility’s Veterans Administration clinic, will receive a new set of thermostats. During the winter months, center staff and volunteers often have had to open the building’s windows to help regulate the temperature inside the building.

Also, the center’s parking lot areas will be completely resurfaced in the spring, Griffin said.

Although the much-needed renovation work has begun, the future of the center’s emergency clinic remains uncertain.

Earlier this year, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital announced that it was looking into the possibility of moving out of the center and relocating to another site somewhere in the area.

At the Winsted facility, the Torrington-based hospital currently runs an emergency department daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs, as well as blood drawing, laboratory, x-ray and digital mammography services. The hospital’s four-bed Hungerford Regional Sleep Laboratory is also housed at the center.

Although the center also houses the offices of private doctors and therapists, as well as the St. Francis Center for Occupational Health, the hospital remains Winsted Health Center Foundation’s largest tenant.

Timothy LeBouthillier, a spokesman for Charlotte Hungerford, told The Journal in October that the hospital has not yet made any decisions regarding the future of its operations at the Spencer Street location, but is only exploring options to improve and expand “the scope and level of the services� it provides the greater Winsted area.

LeBouthillier said the options being considered include moving to a new local facility “at one of four locations� or remaining at the Winsted Health Center.

Meanwhile, the center has entered into talks with two other health-care providers about the possibility of moving to the center.