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Services offered within the CHC
- Screening: - Mantoux tests to detect Tuberculosis, full panels of blood work to rule out Hepatitis C, HIV; blood sugar monitoring; blood pressure monitoring. All walk-in clients are screened for severity of illness and treated or referred as needed.
- Assessment - complete history and physical for all persons using the CHC for their primary source of health care. This includes obtaining medical records from previous providers.
- Interventions - dressing changes; wound care and foot care.
- Medication administration - for clients who have difficulty taking medications as prescribed. Medications provided for each day on a daily basis.
- Injections - routine injections that may have been previously ordered by family physicians, e.g., B12; birth control, Depo Provera; immunizations, Tetanus Diphtheria toxoid, Influenza vaccine, and Twinrix vaccine.
- Counselling services - mental health counselling; addiction counselling; safer sex and harm reduction counselling; help with obtaining necessary legal documents such as public health cards, social insurance cards, birth certificates, or medicare cards; help with finding housing; conducting job searches and counselling concerning work related issues; pre and post HIV test counselling. Counselling is currently being provided on an individual or group basis usually on a weekly basis but more frequently if needed.
- Services that improve basic hygiene - provision of daily showers; provision of laundry services; clothing bank on premises; and modest supply of toiletries available.
- Services that enhance nutrition: provision of Ensure, nutritional supplements on a daily basis; frequently have food donated to CHC by community volunteers; nutritional counseling and program available.
- Therapeutic massage - provided one day a week for all persons (clients and non-clients) who wish to sign up. One of the primary programs offered within the CHC, the Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, was established to offer an alternative treatment for persons who are addicted to opioids in the city. Clients on the program receive group or individual counselling (a necessary criteria for being in the program), urine drug screening, vitals check and an appointment with the doctor on a regular (often weekly) basis. Today there are approximately 150 people on a waiting list to be screened for their eligibility in the program.
- Health education - for each and every service that is provided there is a corresponding educational component. Care is provided from a client centered perspective that promotes self care. This strategy only can be successful if the client has the knowledge needed to make informed decisions and if that knowledge is made relevant to the context in which the client lives. For example if the health education concerns nutrition, it has to be based on what the client can afford to buy for food and how it can be prepared.
