Community Health Centre to focus on treating those who need it most
Vaughan Today
Feb 06, 2008

By Alexis Dobranowski

Health is more than just illness, says Joe Da Silva, the Vaughan Community Health Centre project manager. So the first part of Vaughan's Health Campus of Care will be a one-stop health-care shop to holistically address the needs of the city's most vulnerable communities, Da Silva said this week.

Construction on the Vaughan Community Health Centre is well underway on Jane St., just north of Rutherford Rd.,
with a projected opening date of spring 2008.

"It (will be) treating more than just our illnesses: it's treating the whole person," Da Silva said." While you go see your doctor for a sore throat, you might be an older adult and so you might get a referral to join the seniors wellness program
that’s offered on site as well."

Community Health Centres are independent, not-for-profit organizations sponsored and run by the communities they serve. The provincial government funds CHCs to provide health services to priority populations who are found to have difficulty accessing health care. In Vaughan, seniors, young people and persons with mental health issues, as well as recent immigrants, have been identified as under-serviced groups when it comes to health care.

Da Silva said Vaughan’s CHC will meet the needs of identified community, but also the general population.
"Access to health care is an issue, and the CHC will help reduce those barriers," he said.” It will do that by providing a variety of primary care services.” Also included will be a variety of social services, like social workers, mental health counsellors and community outreach workers.

Anastasia Vogt, Vaughan Health Care Foundation administrator, says her organization
is also looking to include other services in the 17, OOO-square-foot building. "We are in discussion with several
health-service providers to co-locate additional complementary services so people (who require) a diagnostic test,
like an x-ray, and have to get in their car and drive five kilometres to go get the x-ray can just walk down the hall," Vogt said. "Seniors, who are frail; for example can't necessarily negotiate or navigate the system as efficiently as you or I, as well as individuals with mental health issues. "So we are hoping to co-locate diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation services, and a number of other services.”

These services won't be directly offered through the CHC but it’s the foundation's intention that the system will appear seamless to its users. Vogt said she’ll be able to tell the community more about these partnerships in the coming months.

The staffing model of the CHC has been approved by the Ontario Ministry of Health. It includes doctors, nurse practitioners, a dietitian, a chiropodist, physiotherapists and a health promoter. All staff will be on salary.

Vogt said the CHC’s staff will take as long as the patient needs, unlike a typical OHIP-billing doctor where 10 minutes are allotted per patient. “A typical scenario: a senior will come in with a big list of issues they want to deal with, and here you can work through the issues,” she said. “You don’t have to come back for additional visits to take care of items five through 12.” "The concept is that they get more comprehensive care, not necessarily better, but just more comprehensive.”

Da Silva said that it’s impoirtant to realize that the CHC will not be a drop-in medical clinic.

“It’s like a family practice, for the clinical aspect,” he siad. “The programs and other services will be open to the general community (on a sign-up basis).” He added by registering clients like aq family practice they can build up a relationship with the health care practitioners.

“There’s a lack of family practices and family physicians so you run to yourn local drop-in, five minutes later you get your prescription and out you go,” Da Silva siad. “You don’t build that relationship and there’s no opportunity to create a relationship.”

Vogt said fostering that relationship is especially important for newcomers or vulnerable populations. "It's trust," she said. "They feel they really need to build a rapport before they are comfortable in some cases sharing major health concerns."

While no hiring of staff has been completed, Da Silva said the staff will reflect the community, in terms of culture and ethnicity. "You want to have that kind of connection to the community," he said. "And the best care you can provide is if the doctor sitting in front of you looks like you and speaks like you, you are going to feel that much more comfortable."

Language, he added, is also an important consideration. "If language is a barrier, CHCs provide translation and interpretation services,” Da Silva said. “So if there’s a Russian-speaking newcomer and the doctor or nurse doesn’t speak Russian, then efforts will be made to hire a Russian speaking interpreter who’s trained or used to medical terminology that can deal with that.” He said when programs are developed they may be delivered in particular languages of for particular groups. "It's all about meeting the health care needs and reducing all of those barriers that communities are facing."

Ward 2 Councillor Tony Carella is on the Community Advisory Committee. He said the CHC will assist newcomers to Canada in particular. "(Many immigrants) are landing right in the suburbs," he said. "Like everyone else, they need a connection to a physician. "'. That’s the critical piece (of the CHC): providing primary care to people who probably need some extra help.” He said the CHC’s health services will consider factors that a typical visit to a drop-in clinic may not.

"(There are many) determinants of health, such as economic status, employment, education.” Carella said. “All of these are the kinds of critical factors the CHC is going to look at, because a normal family physician doesn’t.”