The health center was threatened with closure due to plans to add housing to shopping center Nova. The owner of shopping center Nova; Urban Interest and the Health Center Kanaleneiland have concluded a letter of intent after intensive mediation by the municipality of Utrecht, which can later be developed into a lease agreement. The letter of intent concerns the establishment of a new and expanded health center on the side of Churchilllaan.

The health center currently offers multiple healthcare services with 100 employees, such as a pharmacy, a general practice, physiotherapy, dietetics, and speech therapy. The health center is part of the integrated plan to add 400 to 450 housing units to shopping center Nova, adjust part of the shopping center, and address and improve the associated outdoor space. Of the additional housing program, 60% will be social and middle-rent, with priority given to people in vital professions and people from the neighborhood.

Measures

An affordable health center is of great importance for the neighborhood. To arrive at a feasible plan, the proposal contains several measures. We deviate from the Action Plan for middle-rent and the distribution between social rent, middle-rent, and free sector. The developer and municipality accept lower revenues to make this possible. The college asks the city council to accept these lower revenues.

Councilor Eelco Eerenberg (Public Health and Spatial Planning): “In Kanaleneiland, there must be good and qualitative care in the neighborhood for all residents. But space is scarce. At Shopping Center Nova, we have now found a solution for the health center. That we adjust the housing program to realize a health center is unique and can only be justified because we invest unevenly for equal opportunities. However, this cannot be done everywhere, and therefore a structural solution must also be found for the housing issue, especially in the places in the city where this is most needed. For this, housing rates must be made suitable for the situation in large cities.”

Nanja Danhof, general practitioner at Health Center Kanaleneiland: “Together with our patients, we are immensely relieved that a suitable space is being built. This hopefully provides not only continuity for our work as a health center but also a place where care and welfare go hand in hand.”

Raymond Jansen, Manager Project Development of Urban Interest: “The need for new homes and facilities in Utrecht – and particularly in Kanaleneiland – is great. The preservation of the health center, in combination with the addition of housing, strengthens the center as a whole. Precisely because Urban Interest owns both the shopping center and the housing, it is possible to assess this development in its entirety. This has made it possible to arrive at a financially feasible and supported plan in close collaboration with the municipality and the health center.”

H-team 030 for general practitioners

Health centers and general practices often face specific difficulties with housing and the necessary financial capacity. The situation of Health Center Kanaleneiland is unique, and the solution found is not necessarily applicable to other situations. For strong basic care in the neighborhood, sufficient financial space for general practitioners is essential. This means, among other things, that housing rates are suitable for the situation in large cities. The municipality of Utrecht continues to discuss this with other municipalities and the national government. In addition, we have emphasized in various consultations with the health insurer that the health disparities in Utrecht are significant and share with them the importance of continuing to invest in vulnerable neighborhoods. The municipality has no legal role or financial means to solve such issues but is committed to addressing the problems with parties. In doing so, the municipality wants to enable more structural support, for example by establishing H-team 030, a counter where general practitioners with housing problems can go.

From left to right: Councilor Eelco Eerenberg, general practitioner Nanja Danhof, and Manager Project Development of Urban Interest Raymond Jansen