Chester health centre offers one-stop approach
For those living in many rural communities, the experience of going to the doctor's office has changed over time. A health centre in Chester that offer a wide range of programs and services provides South Shore residents with a one-stop approach to health care.
Our Health Centre (OHC), located at 3769 Highway 3 in Chester, houses Nova Scotia Health Authority's primary care clinic, public health, continuing care, mental health and addictions services, blood and diabetes clinics, and a soon to open opioid treatment clinic. According to Lorraine Burch, OHC executive director, there are also other health care services in the building, such as hearing and foot care specialists.
OHC sponsors programs for seniors, support groups for people with various diseases, training programs and workshops on a wide variety of health and wellness-related issues. It supports school-based programs such as healthy eating and mental health for teens. Burch said that community group rentals and the municipal recreation department's healthy lifestyle activities form an essential aspect of OHC'S program delivery strategy.
The OHC Association also offers a mental health clinic one night a week and a walkin clinic three days per week. OHC does not have specialists on-site.
“It is much more than your annual check-up and your vaccination or your referral for surgery,” Burch said during a recent interview.
“It is a different concept. It is not what we would have called back in the day a doctor's office,” Burch said.
According to Burch, the vision for OHC started to take shape in 2005. Community consultations led to the realization that physician services delivered within the context of a collaborative health care delivery model with a focus on health and wellness were the way of the future.
“This province is just getting to understand the role of community health centres. If you look at Ontario or British Columbia, they are quite far ahead. They have embraced the community health centre model,” Burch said.
“For a very long time, there was only one community health centre in Nova Scotia. And that was the North End Clinic in Halifax. And it just celebrated 50 years,” Burch said.
“But the other community health centres are quite young compared to that.”
Burch said there are currently six true community-owned and operated Community Health Centres in Nova Scotia. She said a Community Health Centre (CHC) in Sydney would be joining that number shortly, and the Municipality of Barrington has just confirmed that they will be building a CHC.
In addition to the Municipality of the District of Chester, which includes Blandford Peninsula, New Ross, Western Shore, Gold River, Martin's River, the Hubbards area and Tancook Islands, the centre regularly serves citizens from Mahone Bay and Bridgewater, Burch said.
“We have a very good relationship with Nova Scotia Health,” Burch said. “We are involved directly with doctor recruitment. We are making inroads with the provincial government for them to understand our model because it's not just a medical model. It is about the social determinants of health. We try to look at the whole person and provide wrap-around care. What are the needs of the person? They go beyond the medical needs. They could need housing. They might have issues with food insecurity. They may need mental health support,” Burch said.
“It's everything that keeps a person thriving.”
According to Burch, OHC has offered over 50 programs since the doors opened in December 2016 at no or low cost.
The bevy of programs includes a volunteer income tax program, addiction information sessions, several types of fitness programs, a healthy brains program by the Alzheimer's Society, a senior safety program by the RCMP and self-esteem and self-care for girls.
Burch said the health centre had taken significant pressure off local emergency room services at much less cost. Feefor-service physicians provide walk-in clinic services. The operations are managed and financed solely by the OHC Association.
“But OHC is much more than a building and collection of services. It is a dynamic focal point for health and wellness activities serving the whole region,” Burch said.
“Our Health Centre is a health and wellness hub serving the District of Chester and surrounding areas. OHC is owned and operated by the community for the community and provides health services and wellness programs that help close the gaps in care that many rural communities face,” Burch said.
“Our role is to teach people how to be their best advocate for themselves and to learn how by taking care of other aspects of their lives that their physical health can be improved.” Margo Walshleaman is the health services manager for primary health care and chronic disease management for the Lunenburg Queens Community Network.
Walsh-leaman said the main floor of OHC has a Nova Scotia Health primary health care team working from it, including a number of family physicians, a nurse practitioner, family practice nurses, and an administrative support team providing primary care for patients in Chester and the surrounding communities.
“They bring a really important voice to the work that you do because the perspective of the patient is always front and centre,” Walsh-leaman said when asked about the role of community health centres like OHC. “They always have such a great perspective about the needs of their specific community, and it helps us be able to reflect on how we offer our programs and services to help meet the needs in those particular communities.”
“While we are taking care of their primary health care needs, they are focusing on what are the options that we can build in the community to really support the whole person,” Walshleaman said.
“It's really giving the people the tools to make their own decisions to live a healthier lifestyle,” she said.
Lorraine Burch said finding funding to pay for the programs is a significant challenge.
“I write grant (applications) a lot to try to find funds to grow the programs we offer,” Burch said.
“To sustain something like this and to be able to grow the types of programs we would love to do takes money,” Burch said. “I think people think that because health is a provincial responsibility the province should cover it all. But the reality is there just aren't enough dollars there either.”
More information is available by phoning Burch at 902275-3847 or by visting:
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