Community Health Centres opening soon for Wallaceburg and Walpole Island
News
Posted By David Gough, Courier Press
Posted 1 month ago
With two new community health centres opening locally, it's expected that emergency room visits should decrease due to more local residents having improved access to primary care.
A site is opening up on Walpole Island next month and a temporary site will be opening up in Wallaceburg in September.
The community health centres will provide increased access to primary health care, health promotion and disease prevention programs.
Chatham-Kent community health centres executive director Kristen Williams said with more residents having available primary care, emergency room visits should drop.
"It is intended that the community health centres will reduce emergency room visits because the continuity of care will be available though the community health centre," Williams said.
Through the community engagement process of the Chatham-Kent community health centres, it was identified that more than half of Walpole Island's 2,000 residents have no access to a primary care practitioner. Initially, a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner will operate from the Walpole site.
Williams said the opening of the health centre on Walpole Island will help those who have no family doctor or nurse practitioner, access primary care.
The Walpole Island community health centre will be located at the current Walpole Island Health Centre located on River Road.
In the future, a doctor might work out of the Walpole Island and Wallaceburg sites.
"We are looking at recruiting a physician to the Wallaceburg site. That physician will also cover the Walpole centre," Williams said.
The temporary Wallaceburg community health centre staff will include an entire health interdisciplinary team, including nurses, a nurse practitioner and other health-care professionals.
The Chatham-Kent community health centres board is looking at securing a temporary site in Wallaceburg in the next few weeks. The temporary site will be the home of the Wallaceburg centre for the next few years, while the board secures permanent sites and commences the capital planning process with the Ministry of Health to build a permanent location in Wallaceburg.
The Chatham site of the Chatham-Kent community health Centres officially opened last month. Like Wallaceburg's centre, it too is temporary.
The community health centres look at equitable access to health care, so that health care is provided to people who need it the most, Williams said.
Those priority population groups that have been identified as needing health care the most include; First Nations, people with mental health and addiction issues, seasonal workers and people with communication barriers, Williams said.
As both the Walpole Island and Wallaceburg sites develop, programs and services will expand further through increased collaboration with other agencies and organizations serving the community.
Both the Walpole Island and Wallaceburg community health centres are community governed and community driven.
The Walpole Island community was consulted in creating the new site. Several meetings were held with Chief Joseph Gilbert, band council members and community healthcare stakeholders. All provided feedback regarding the specific health care needs of the community. Walpole Island band councillor Clint Peters sits on the Chatham-Kent community health centres board.
Residents wanting to use the services of the Wallaceburg community health centre can get applications from the Chatham community health centre. The office is located at 150 Richmond St. in Chatham.
For more information about the community health centres in Chatham-Kent, call 519-397-5455.
