Town of Bracebridge council committee approved a $150,000 loan to support the redevelopment of the former Georgian College campus into a community health and wellness hub.
During the Nov. 3 general committee meeting, Paul Judson, director of finance and treasurer, presented a report outlining plans to repurpose the facility into a community health and wellness hub while maintaining its use as an educational space.
Judson said the proposed redevelopment aims to replicate the health and wellness hub model in Orillia, which offers a range of health-care services, including a medical clinic and a family medicine teaching unit operated in partnership with the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
The decision follows Georgian College’s closure of its Muskoka campus in August 2025, amid changes to the post-secondary education sector affecting international students.
Since then, Town officials have been working on a redevelopment proposal submitted by Muskoka Health and Wellness Centre Inc. that could include primary care teaching clinics and a health hub focused on delivering community-based primary care services.
Staff said a $150,000 loan, provided through a municipal capital facility agreement, would help support part of the proposed redevelopment.
According to the report, the funding would support the development of at least 13,000 square feet of regulated health-care professional services space within the centre, with the organization covering all remaining acquisition, redevelopment and operating costs.
To achieve that, the organization has created a draft 2026-2027 operating plan outlining key redevelopment milestones. These include completing architectural and engineering designs for permit applications by November, beginning renovations and construction in January 2027, and targeting occupancy of the renovated facility in June or July 2027.
Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney said the investment is “absolutely appropriate,” adding that the new facility will support physician recruitment and retention while improving access to primary care.
“There are in South Muskoka, probably about anywhere between, depending on the numbers you look at, 6,000 to 12,000 people that are unattached to a medical practitioner,” he said. “This investment that we’re making is one that will absolutely connect thousands of people to primary care. That’s the entry point into the healthcare system.”
Additionally, the report states town staff met with representatives from NOSM University and York University to assess interest in being the partner who delivers medical education curriculum at the former Georgian College Muskoka campus.
Judson said both expressed strong interest in Muskoka as a location for a satellite medical school campus to expand training capacity, including the potential for collaboration between the two institutions.
He said discussions are also underway with Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) to confirm its interest in serving as the hospital partner, as well as with the Cottage Country Family Health Team regarding a medical teaching unit.
The funding decision still needs to be ratified by council.
