Sooke waited a decade for a walk-in clinic. The shovels finally went in Monday
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Construction is starting on a six-storey building at 2101 Sitka Court in the middle of Sooke, with a new Urgent and Primary Care Centre on one floor and rental housing above it.
Mayor Maja Tait said a building permit has been issued and crews will start clearing brush and alder from the undeveloped lot in the coming weeks. The Health Ministry expects work on the building itself to begin before year's end, with the clinic opening in 2028.
The UPCC is about 5,000 square feet, owned and operated by Island Health, and built on land the District of Sooke handed to non-profit developer Catalyst. One floor is reserved for health-care providers who, as Tait put it, will be able to take the elevator to work. The idea started around 2016, and John Horgan gave it provincial approval in March 2023 as one of his last acts in office.
Up in Victoria, a different clinic cleared its first hurdle. Council voted unanimously Thursday to back the Inter-Cultural Association's plan for a doctor's office and expanded daycare at its Douglas Street headquarters, which could serve up to 3,000 people with three or four physicians. The ICA still needs to raise about $500,000 to retrofit the space.
