A handful of offices at the Doctor’s Building are temporarily closed due to excessive heat — leading one of its tenants to express concern for the well-being of staff and people who frequent the building for health care.
Superior Adult Learning was among the tenants to close up shop today due to a lack of air conditioning, which is being attributed to ongoing HVAC issues at 955 Queen St. E. over the past two months.
“We had to tell our clients to stay home,” said Martin Wyant, executive director of the non-profit organization.
“That's the third time that I've closed the office in the last month.”
An employee of a local health-care provider, who was unauthorized to speak publicly, said it was a sweltering 30 C inside the building when SooToday visited this afternoon. Another employee at a doctor's office, meanwhile, said staff there chose to work from home because of the excessive heat.
In an email to SooToday, a spokesperson for the Group Health Centre confirmed the issue has impacted one of its physician offices located in the building.
"We are working closely with the building owner, who has assured us that repairs are a priority," the spokesperson said.
Other tenants told SooToday the temperature soared to nearly 36 C at one point recently. Wyant believes the excessive heat could potentially pose a threat to patients who rely on health-care services at the Doctor’s Building.
There's a health and safety concern when temperatures in buildings like this get to be over 32 C, Wyant said.
“You have a problem, right? You have a problem as an employer because you have a duty to provide a safe work environment.
“But it's a bigger problem in a health-care building — the majority of tenants in this building are related to health care,” he continued.
“There are a number of people coming into this space that already have some kind of health condition that is certainly not going to be improved by experiencing these excessive temperatures.”
Italo Ferrari, a developer based in Woodbridge, Ont. who is acting as landlord for the building, has advised tenants that a temporary cooling unit will be installed in the interim.
But it remains unclear when that will happen.
“I don't have an answer on when a temporary solution might be available and working,” Wyant said.
The Doctor’s Building is owned by 1667271 Ontario Inc., a numbered company that lists Mike Anobile, a real estate investor based in Vaughan, Ont., as president, secretary and treasurer.
According to documents filed at the provincial land registry office, another numbered company — 2612316 Ontario Ltd., which lists Ferrari as its director — bought the building for $1 in June 2020. It was then sold five months later to 1667271 Ontario Inc. for $2.2 million.
In November of last year, city council voted unanimously to buy three properties that comprised the old hospital site from Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc. and 1667271 Ontario Inc. for $4.75 million.
Both of those companies list Anobile as president and secretary, while Ferrari is the general manager for Leisure Meadows Community Living.
Wyant said he has made numerous requests to Ferrari to address the ongoing HVAC issues, dating back to May 1.
“This wouldn't be allowed in a hospital setting, presumably — I'm not sure why it's being tolerated in a facility that provides health-care services to many people who are vulnerable,” Wyant said.
Neither Anobile nor Ferrari responded to requests to comment on this story.