In an effort to break down health-care barriers for seniors, several Ottawa groups have teamed up to bring medical services to their doorsteps.
The Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, the Ottawa Paramedic Service, Ottawa Public Health and drugstore chain Rexall hosted a wellness clinic Thursday at a condo building on Ambleside Drive.
Seniors living in the building were able to walk downstairs and have a nurse, physician, pharmacist and paramedics at their service. They could get medical assessments on site, and referrals elsewhere if their needs were more complex.
Thursday’s clinic was the third held at the west Ottawa condo, with more planned in the months ahead.
Many seniors don’t have access to primary medical care, organizers said, meaning it may be years since they’ve last seen a physician.
“It’s all about providing care for these residents in their community and [to] try to break down barriers to health care,” said Marc-Antoine Deschamps with the Ottawa Paramedic Service.
Clinics like these could help relieve the pressures on local hospitals, Deschamps said.
If the medical teams catch issues like high blood pressure or diabetes in the early stages, it could prevent 911 calls down the line and free up space in emergency rooms, he said.
“We can reduce the burden on health care by addressing detailed care concerns early on,” he said.
Tamara Chipperfield, chief executive officer of the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre, hopes that the clinic will link people to other services — instead of forcing them to rely on ERs.
“One of our key jobs is to ensure that those wrap-around supports are available to people so that people know outside of this clinic where and how they can access allied health services,” she said.
“We shouldn’t be asking everyday citizens to bind together to figure out how they can convince health care to come to their community.”– CanAge CEO Laura Tamblyn Watts
Ruth Becker, a pharmacist at Rexall, said these sorts of clinics can also help people stay in their homes longer without needing assistance from a caregiver.
“I believe that there is a better quality of life if people are able to stay and live where they are already happy living and if we bring the health care to them,” Becker said.
“At the core of what I believe in, as a health-care professional, is helping people age where they are happy.”
‘Not a perfect model’
The idea of the clinic originated from a group of older adults who live in the three neighbouring Ambleside Drive buildings. They came together through Oasis, an organization that brings seniors together and helps them create a community.
After being frustrated with the current health-care system, they reached out to the organizations that helped organize Thursday’s clinic.
“We shouldn’t be asking everyday citizens to bind together to figure out how they can convince health care to come to their community,” said Laura Tamblyn Watts, chief executive officer of CanAge, a national seniors’ advocacy group.
“We should be having a community plan for health care, not the opposite way around.”
Tamblyn Watts said while these clinics are a step in the right direction, they’re “not a perfect model.”
She wants to see the federal government to implement a plan to ensure seniors have the proper resources to live long, healthy lives.
“Our health-care system needs to start taking our aging population seriously,” Tamblyn Watts said.