Health centre has inner city on the mend Transformation of Balmoral Hotel has helped begin healing By: Scott Billeck Posted: 4:10 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025 Last Modified: 9:55 AM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2025 Updates

Once a crime-ridden hotel where bartenders slung cheap drinks next to a gritty parking lot vendor, health and hope have come to a neighbourhood hungry for change.

Since opening in December, the Right Care Medical Centre at 465 Cumberland Ave., has treated hundreds of patients.

“It’s been nice to be here because you definitely see that there’s a need,” said Dr. Shiza Pirzada. “There’s a lot of patients that don’t have family doctors looking for care.”

Pirzada, who completed her residency at Seven Oaks General Hospital last June, said her experience working in the area made her want to stay. After a stint at another nearby clinic, she joined Right Care to continue serving the inner-city population.

“A lot of clinics in the area are full and not accepting new patients,” she said. “And there’s hesitancy in accessing care in this area.”

The clinic, with six exam rooms, also offers walk-in services. It marks the latest chapter in the transformation of an inner-city property once known for violent crime.

That shift began in 2023, when Pimicikamak Cree Nation entrepreneur Kam Khaira and Winnipeg psychiatrist Dr. Antonio Paletta purchased the Balmoral Hotel and adjacent beer vendor. Since then, the site has been rebranded as the Pimicikamak Wellness Centre, which includes 45 hotel rooms and health programming. The medical clinic runs out of the renovated building where the beer vendor once stood.

Clinic owner and entrepreneur, Iman Pirzada, said he was drawn to the project by the chance to help transform a neighbourhood long defined by hardship.

“It was quite literally the complete opposite of what this is,” he said. “It’s an area with a lot of need, a lot of newcomers, and it’s underserved when it comes to finding doctors, especially female physicians.”

“We’re able to provide that care, walk-ins, and people can come and go, even if they’re not 100 per cent (comfortable) on coming here… We’re willing to allow people to come at their own pace.”– Dr. Shiza Pirzada

As a woman of colour, the clinic’s doctor said her background has helped connect with members of the area’s diverse community. The clinic also provides translation services in several languages.

Wellness centre staffers have helped build trust between the Indigenous population and the clinic.

“We’re able to provide that care, walk-ins, and people can come and go, even if they’re not 100 per cent (comfortable) on coming here, we don’t have any no-show fees or anything like that,” Shiza Pirzada said. “We’re willing to allow people to come at their own pace.”

By fall, the growing wellness hub will expand with the addition of a daycare centre run by Splash Child Care Inc. It already houses services like 1JustCity, a local non-profit providing free meals and wellness programming from the hotel’s basement, and a new pharmacy.

“That was the goal in the beginning, and by God’s grace, we got it,” said Khaira of the building’s purchase.

He said the property was so unsafe when it was acquired that he didn’t feel comfortable walking into the hotel or beer vendor.

“Now, it’s completely changed,” he said.

Enhanced security measures at the wellness centre have also improved safety, Shiza Pirzada said.

Businesses in the area have also noticed a difference.

Zabi Ahmadi, who owns Millad’s Supermarket at 460 Notre Dame Ave., said delivery drivers were often fearful when they were dropping off goods.

Ahmadi’s store backs onto the former vendor’s parking lot.

“There were a lot of people just hanging around back there, drinking,” Ahmadi said. “When it was dark out, I was scared to go out there. Since they (closed) the beer vendor, it’s been nice.”

That’s good to hear, said Josh Ward, site lead at the wellness centre for 1JustCity.

“I’m happy to hear that people are saying it’s safer,” he said. “I’d like to think that’s the case. It’s validating to hear.”

Since relocating to the site in early 2024, Ward said his team has focused on strengthening ties within the community. The arrival of the medical clinic, he added, has expanded capacity to provide support and services.

“In other locations I’ve worked in, you get people with medical situations, and they’re asking us, ‘What should I do with this?’ or, ‘Hey, can you get me a Band-Aid’ because they’ve got a gash down their leg,” Ward said. “Now, we can say we have the medical clinic right in our own backyard.”

1JustCity supports as many as 150 people per day.

Winnipeg police data show crime is declining in the area. In 2022, violent incidents in Atom 323 — a sliver of land in the city’s West Alexander neighbourhood bounded by Isabel Street to the west, Hargrave Street to the east, Notre Dame Avenue to the north and Cumberland Avenue to the south — peaked at 53, with non-violent crimes reaching 101.

Those figures dropped to 36 violent and 53 non-violent crimes in 2024.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca