Mobile health clinic hits the road, serving Greater Victoria's marginalized population
The Victoria Cool Aid Society is revving up a new health clinic that brings the doctor’s office to some of the capital region’s most vulnerable people.
The health-care van runs five days a week, with an eye for expansion, travelling to shelters and supportive housing sites so people can get access to care from nurses, social workers, and physicians.
“We expect to be very, very busy,” says clinical nurse leader Karen Lundgren. “There are a lot of people in Victoria who have a real difficulty accessing traditional health care and so this will allow us to reach those people.”
The services include anything a doctor’s office would be equipped for, including primary care assessments, STI screenings, wound care and prescriptions. It also has harm reduction supplies and a physician aboard who can help people access opiate agonist therapy.
A 54-year-old man who accesses Cool Aid’s resources on a regular basis and once experienced homelessness decades ago thinks the mobile tool will be especially helpful for people who don’t have a place to call home.
“It’s quicker care,” says Garry Gordon. “Plus there’s less stigma with the van than having to go to (Royal) Jubilee Hospital or something.”
The mobile health unit was a donation from Doctors of the World to the Cool Aid Society. Its operating expenses are being covered by sponsors like Telus and Island Health, as well as community donations that support Cool Aid.
“Over the past year, health care and housing have come together in an unprecedented way to provide more services for those in marginalized populations,” says Mary Chudley, Cool Aid’s director of health and support services. “And now we’re taking those lessons we’ve learned from that collaboration and realizing that, yeah, we need to be more mobile.”
The charitable organization says the van is a cost-effective and sustainable way of reaching people for health care.
“I think it will help people reach their health potential that otherwise wouldn’t be able to,” adds Lundgren.
The van has already been in operation over the last few weeks. Its schedule is being posted and shared with Cool Aid’s community partners, and it can be viewed on the charity’s website.
“This van is a new way, an innovative way to do health care,” says Chudley.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.