Health
People and families living in Renfrew-Collingwood and surrounding neighbourhoods will soon have access to more quality primary health-care services with the launch of the new RISE Community Health Centre in April 2020.
The Province is launching RISE Community Health Centre in collaboration with the Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society to provide comprehensive primary-care services to residents. Community health centres are community governed with services tailored to meet the health needs of the community they serve. The centre will be governed, owned and operated by Collingwood Neighbourhood House.
“We’ve listened to people in Renfrew-Collingwood and are using our primary care strategy to build on the good work their community organizations are already doing,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “The RISE Community Health Centre will help connect more people with the health care they need when they need it. This will make a difference for people who have been struggling to access health-care services.”
Located at 3425 Crowley Dr., RISE will offer comprehensive primary-care and health-promotion services. This includes attaching people without a primary-care provider to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, providing access to preventative and primary health-care services to patients with complex medical and social needs, mental health and addictions challenges and co-ordination of specialist care.
Since November 2019, the health centre has been providing limited primary-care services through a small clinical space at Collingwood Neighbourhood House. It is currently accepting patients by referral from selected organizations and programs. Services at this site will continue when the main location opens, offering services such as chronic disease management, pregnancy, prenatal and postpartum care, mental-health assessment, treatment and support, medication prescription refills and health screenings, assessments and prescriptions.
RISE will continue to expand its services and clinical team in the first two years of operation. Over time, patients will also benefit from additional health promotion and disease prevention activities such as a pharmacy dispensary, physiotherapy, nutrition support, counselling and patient education, as well as support to navigate health and social service systems.
“RISE Community Health Centre would not be possible without the dedication and tireless efforts of the Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society,” said Dix. “Its passion and support for serving the community has made RISE a reality, and I thank everyone for their continued partnership in this project.”
The B.C. government will provide approximately $2.6 million operating budget once the centre reaches full capacity.
Quick Facts:
- In April 2020, seven full-time equivalent staff will work at the RISE Community Health Centre’s main location and at Collingwood Neighbourhood House.
- The centre expects to have around 12,000 patient visits in the first year of operation.
- Community health centres are not-for-profit or co-operative health-care organizations that deliver integrated, people-centred services and programs that reflect the needs of the communities they serve.
- There are approximately 100 community health centres that are run by health authorities, and 30 community-governed community health centres in British Columbia.
- These centres focus on integrating services and programs in primary care, health promotion, and community well-being, as well as working to address social determinants of health.
Learn More:
To learn more about the Province’s primary health-care strategy, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018PREM0034-001010
To learn more about the Province’s strategy to increase the number of nurse practitioners, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018HLTH0034-000995
To learn more about the Province’s strategy to recruit and retain more family medicine graduates, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018HLTH0052-001043
Two backgrounders follow.
