Improved access to care for newcomers

A new medical clinic for government-sponsored refugees is now in operation at Reception House in Ottawa. In early 2008, the Champlain LHIN provided a capital grant of $77,500 in urgent priority funding to pay for renovations, medical supplies and computer equipment for this innovative program, which helps newcomers to our region.

The clinic serves refugees who have arrived from remote and often neglected camps across the world. Many of the clients need initial screening, primary health services, and sometimes urgent care.

The refugees are brought to Canada by the federal government, which works closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other countries to resettle groups of refugees considered more at risk than the general refugee population. They are people who may have suffered severe persecution, including torture, imprisonment, forced labour, the burning of villages and forced relocation in their homeland.

Reception House, also called Maison Thérèse Daillaire, is run by the Catholic Immigration Centre. It’s a temporary home for refugees until permanent housing can be found for them. Roughly 400 people stay at Reception House every year, and the length of stay is about one month. Situating the medical clinic in Reception House means refugees can receive their medical care quickly in a place that understands their cultural needs and has translators on hand.

On August 21, 2008, Champlain LHIN CEO Robert Cushman toured the new medical clinic and met with members of the Champlain Immigrant Health Network.

The network, founded by Dr. Kevin Pottie of the Bruyère Family Health Team and now chaired by community physician Dr. Doug Gruner, was instrumental in creating the new clinic. All community health centres in Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario are members of the network, as well as several individual physicians, two Family Health Teams, University of Ottawa medical students, settlement workers, and others.

“The new clinic will help reduce emergency room visits because refugees are medically screened and treated for any health problems soon after they arrive in Canada,” said Dr. Gruner. He added that an electronic health record ensures ‘continuity of care’ when clients later transfer to another health professional for ongoing care.

The Somerset West Community Health Centre helped to organize the logistics of setting up the new clinic, and currently provides a nurse practitioner to give routine immunizations and conduct medical screening tests.

In the photo (L-R): Dr. Kevin Pottie, Chamroeun Lay (Reception House), Lucila Cabrera (Reception House), Dr. Doug Gruner, Dr. Robert Cushman, Laura Kollenberg (nurse practitioner) and Dr. Anita Pozgay.