Services and programs are slowly being reintroduced at community health centres in Centretown after being bumped earlier this month for emergency H1N1 flu assessments.
Officials say the number of people coming in with flu-like symptoms has dropped off in recent days, and the clinics have been returning to normal operations.
“I’m really pleased that we’re able to book those appointments back in a fairly quick period,” says Simone Thibault, executive director of Centretown Community Health Centre.
On Nov. 4, the Centretown Community Health Centre and the Somerset West Community Health Centre began cancelling or relocating services because Ottawa Public Health required them to become flu assessment clinics.
The centre has now suspended its operations as a flu assessment clinic, and is reintroducing services such as its diabetes outreach program, cooking programs and routine medical appointments,.
The transformation over the past two weeks was not a smooth road, as staff had to be trained for new positions and the centre needed to be open seven days a week, Thibault says.
“It appeared seamless if you were looking from afar, but when you saw the work that was required . . . it was amazing.”
To accommodate the new role as a flu assessment clinic, everyone from dieticians to administrative assistants needed to be able to screen patients for assessments, Thibault says. It also called for the difficult task of cancelling other kinds of appointments for vulnerable clients.
“The hardest thing we have as care workers is to say to our clients that we can’t do this anymore,” says Thibault. “That’s the hardest part, because we're very caring and passionate about our clients and our community.”
The Somerset West site returned to normal operations last Friday, and has reintroduced services such as routine medical appointments, acupuncture and foot care programs, says program co-ordinator Merry Cardinal.
“It really was a case of planning for the unknown. It was certainly a lot of learning in it for us.” SWCHC staff has gone out of their way to keep up-to-date on clients who used the cancelled services, says Cardinal.
“People were still checking up on their vulnerable clients via phone and making sure people were all right,” she says. “And some of the nurses were making a couple of visits in the morning on their way in just to make sure.”
CCHC was prepared to see around 80 people per day for flu assessments, but the most the centre had seen in a day was 28 people. At its peak, Somerset West saw 55 people in one day, but it prepared for 150 people per day.
The purpose of flu assessment clinics is to provide access to primary care for those people who do not have a family doctor or are unable to get an appointment with their doctor in such short notice. The clinics are also intended to free up hospital emergency departments for those people with severe flu-like symptoms.
With nearly 3,000 people having used the seven clinics in Ottawa, only 10 per cent were referred to an emergency room, says Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans, chair of the city’s community and protective services committee.
“The community health centres in Centretown have really done a fantastic job and should be commended.”