Mobility clinic gets funding to spread model across province

WATERLOO — Five new mobility clinics will open across Ontario based on the model created locally by the Centre for Family Medicine, with a $700,000 grant from the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.

The local mobility clinic, started in 2010, looks after people with physical disabilities including spinal cord injury, providing specialized care by a multidisciplinary team.

“We really offer quite comprehensive care that’s tailored to an individual based on their needs,” research director Dr. Jamie Milligan said during the announcement in the centre’s north Waterloo office on Tuesday.

Access to health care is often a significant challenge for people living with spinal cord injury or health conditions that affect mobility. Part of that is due to the limited number of patients with a spinal cord injury in a family doctor’s practice, not to mention accessibility issues within the office itself.

“It’s very challenging for primary care to take care of a handful of patients in a practice,” said team chair Dr. Joseph Lee.

These patients are less likely to receive the same level of basic care as other patients, although their needs are more complex and complications can lead to emergency room visits or hospitalization.

“These are people who have higher risk for complications,” Lee said.

When a person is referred to the mobility clinic, a team from a range of disciplines works together to provide comprehensive assessment and develop a care plan, which is then shared with the primary care provider.

The mobility clinic has specialized equipment to help with an assessment, and the team has training on the needs of people with mobility issues. Ongoing care is provided as needed.

The clinic has served more than 500 patients, including about 75 with a spinal cord injury, since its launch.

There are two sites in Waterloo Wellington, and it is expanding to Cambridge in the fall.

The grant money, which the centre will get over the next two years, will support research and expansion of the model across Ontario.

Patient Jeremy Howcroft, who has been living with a spinal cord injury for eight years, said the clinic goes way beyond simply providing preventive care and annual checkups.

“It’s really having access to a knowledgeable group of people,” Howcroft said.