ARCH Guelph set to close after 35 years of healthcare and supportive services
A staple in Guelph’s community health services sector expects to close its doors at the end of this month.
HIV/AIDS Resources & Community Health (ARCH) announced the upcoming closure on social media and on its website.
“It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing the anticipated closure of ARCH on March 31, 2024,” ARCH said in a post.
“We received a message from the Ministry of Health that we would no longer be receiving funding as of March 31, 2024. This was a big surprise to us.”
ARCH said it relies on that funding to support its women’s community work, harm reduction, trans support programs, HIV support programs and more.
CTV News reached out to ARCH for comment but has not received a response.
Two local organizations to pick up ARCH services
Services that were offered by ARCH will now be taken over by two other community organizations – Guelph Community Healthcare Centre (CHC) and The AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area (ACCWA). The organizations said there should be no disruption to any of those services.
Guelph CHC will deliver harm reduction services in addition to its HIV clinical services and gender affirming care, which began running last April.
“This news is unexpected for many members of the community,” said Melissa Kwiatkowski, CEO of Guelph CHC.
Kwiatkowski added one positive of this situation is that there will be no disruptions to services.
“Our real focus right now is just on prioritizing stability and continuity of services for the community members that rely on having safe, accessible and inclusive services.”
ACCWA will offer HIV support services in Guelph. It’s working out of a temporary space in Guelph until it finds a permanent location.
“One thing we want to be very focused on is using our past history of partnership to move forward in partnership to make sure that we can support individuals that need the HIV support services and the HIV clinical services in Guelph,” said Ruth Cameron, ACCWA executive director.
Both organizations say they’re committed to continuing to provide all the same services in Guelph.
“The funding that was in Guelph to provide services is staying in Guelph,” Kwiatkowski said.
Guelph CHC and ACCWA will take over the services currently provided by ARCH on April 1. Going forward, they said they’ll be looking to scale up services and add more options.
“We certainly want an opportunity to get some feedback from community and then we will go about, with that information, implementing services and supports that we provide,” Cameron said.
Guelph CHC and ACCKWA said anyone with questions or concerns can reach out to them directly.
CTV News has reached out to Ontario’s Ministry of Health for comment on the situation but has not received a response.
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