The North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) has amalgamated its three Muskoka offices into one new location in Huntsville.

Trevor Clark, CCAC senior director of corporate services, told this newspaper that staff moved into the new location on April 21.

“We have between 30 and 40 staff (in the new office),” said Clark. “The reason there’s a (range) there is we’re hoping our case managers will be mobile workers, so they’ll be serving the needs of the community, but . . . some staff will be working all the time out of that office on a dedicated basis.”

The CCAC is now located at 8 Crescent Road, Unit B3 at Huntsville’s south end just off Hwy. 11.

The new location is in a 7,000-square-foot office space within a 10,000-square-foot building.

Clark said the reason for the move was in part to enable the CCAC to house all its Muskoka staff in one place.

“(The other reason is) they really needed new office space, and this building (for example) has backup generator power so in the event of power outages — which in the Muskoka region I understand takes place fairly frequently — is that it will allow for the continuity of service and it’s really a state-of-the-art building that will allow us to meet the needs of the community more effectively,” said Clark.

Previously the CCAC ran offices in Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville, but Clark said the entire Muskoka region will continue to be served from the new location.

Community care access centres are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Among the services provided by the CCACs are mental health, palliative, acquired brain injury and respite care specialized programs, as well as help gaining placement in long-term care programs.

Case managers for the centres can also work with clients to set up and monitor a variety of in-home services that meet individual needs.

The contact information for the North Simcoe Muskoka CCAC remains the same and can be found on their website at www.nsm.ccac-ont.ca. To reach a case manager, phone 789-6451 or toll free 1-800-263-2805.