More health services return to Nelson centre after water damage
The Nelson Community Health Services Centre at 902 Eleventh Street in Nelson. Several Interior Health programs have returned to the facility following water damage in December 2025. — Interior Health
Home and community care and environmental health programs have returned to the Nelson Community Health Services Centre, while several mental health and substance use services remain at temporary locations.
NELSON — More Interior Health programs have returned to the Nelson Community Health Services Centre, six months after water damage forced the facility to close and relocate services across the city.
The community health centre is separate from Kootenay Lake Hospital and provides community-based and outpatient programs rather than emergency, surgical and inpatient hospital care.
Environmental Public Health and Licensing and Home and Community Care moved back to the centre on June 26, Interior Health announced July 2.The health services centre temporarily closed after water damage was discovered on the afternoon of Dec. 30, 2025. Nelson Fire and Rescue Services assisted staff with the evacuation and efforts to limit the damage.
The closure affected adult day programs, mental health and substance use services, public health, early childhood development, home and community care, and environmental public health and licensing. Nelson Fairview Gardens, the neighbouring 75-bed long-term care facility, was not directly affected.
Services began returning in stages in March. Adult day services, public health, early childhood development, environmental public health program support and mental health and substance use programs for seniors returned March 25. Water-sampling drop-off service resumed at the centre March 30.
Several mental health and substance use programs remain at the Nelson Downtown Mental Health and Substance Use office at 514 Vernon Street. Those include substance use counselling and after-care, counselling and treatment, psychiatry and outreach services.
Counselling and treatment services are also being offered temporarily at Nelson Fairview Gardens, next to the health services centre.
The downtown office provides programs including crisis response, mental health group counselling, opioid agonist treatment, substance use counselling and recovery support. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The Nelson Community Health Services Centre opened in August 2025 as part of the Nelson Health Campus in the Fairview neighbourhood. The purpose-built facility replaced the former Nelson Health Centre and Gordon Road Wellness Centre and brought public health, home care, mental health, harm reduction, early childhood and seniors’ programs into one location.
The centre’s listed hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Interior Health advises people to call before arriving when booking new appointments or confirming where a service is currently being delivered.
General inquiries can be directed to 250-505-7200.
People seeking mental health or substance use services can call 250-505-7248 or 310-MHSU (6478).
Interior Health has not announced when the remaining relocated services will return to the community health centre.
Grand Forks is not under an evacuation alert or order. No active emergency notice for the city or the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary appears on EmergencyInfoBC’s current wildfire list at the publication cutoff.