Donwood comes back to CAMH

Final preparations are under way for Bellwood Health Services (formerly the Donwood Institute) to move back this fall to 175 Brentcliffe Rd., owned by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

The 65,000-square-foot building sits on nine acres of parkland and has been vacant since 2008 when the Donwood Institute moved downtown to CAMH’s 1001 Queen West facility. A $5 million renovation is under way.

Bellwood Health Services was founded by Dr. Gordon Bell in 1984, operating at its current facility on McNicoll Ave. for the past 32 years. Prior to Bellwood, Dr. Bell founded the Donwood Institute in 1967 on the current property at Brentcliffe.

The renovation will increase the number of beds at Bellwoods by almost 50 percent to 85.

Linda Bell, who co-founded Bellwood with her late father and was CEO until August 2014, is excited to be returning to Leaside.

“It’s a move that is long overdue,” she said recently. “The timing is right to move to the next level.”