Ottawa's community health centres say they can play a big part in solving doctor shortage

Six local community health centres are proposing they take on an additional 28,000 patients.

Published Jul 20, 2023 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 4 minute read

Maxine Stata poses for a photo at her home in Ottawa Wednesday. Stata is a long-time patient of the Somerset West Community Health Centre. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

At 74, Maxine Stata maintains an irreverent sense of humour despite health challenges that include diabetes and blindness caused by macular degeneration.

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But she does not joke when she talks about the care she has received as a patient at Somerset West Community Health Centre for the past 30-plus years.

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“I think the reason I am still in my own home is because of their constant supervision of my health,” Stata said.

When COVID-19 vaccines were first available, nurses from the community health centre went to Stata’s home to immunize her there. She receives regular home visits from outreach health providers as well as phone calls checking in that everything is fine. Staff members from Somerset West have given her advice on everything from diet and nutrition to foot care, as well as pointers about tax credits and support in doing her taxes.

“They keep on top of things,” Stata said.

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Stata compares the wrap-around care she receives to that of a friend who doesn’t have a doctor and has to go to walk-in clinics when she needs medical care.

“They don’t follow up on her. I don’t know how she can manage.”

Strata’s friend is not alone. More than 65,000 people in Ottawa do not have a primary caregiver.

Community health centres, including Somerset West, believe their model of care can play a key role in solving the primary care crisis in Ottawa and helping residents find health care — including some of the most vulnerable in the city.

Ottawa’s six community health centres are proposing they take on an additional 28,000 patients by expanding hours and staff numbers at existing facilities and setting up mobile health-care teams and outreach programs in shelters, community hubs and at the Ottawa newcomer health centre.

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As part of a provincial plan to allocate $60 million to team-based primary care throughout Ontario, the Ottawa health centres are proposing collaborating to hire the equivalent of 140 health professionals to take on significantly more clients — including those who have a hard time accessing health care.

Suzanne Obiorah, executive director of Somerset West Community Health Centre. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Suzanne Obiorah, the executive director at the Somerset West Community Health Centre, said the proposed expansion is a long time coming — it has been a decade since community health centres have received significant funding increases to take on more patients.

Team-based health care

The health centres’ pitch to collaborate and expand comes as there is a growing interest in a team-based approach to primary care, in which a variety of health professionals work to provide the right care to patients. Obiorah notes that is the kind of care local community centres have offered for decades.

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“The province is looking at health system transformation. We are ready to scale up our model. We can significantly improve the overall health of members of our community.”

Somerset West alone has a roster of 18,000 clients who receive primary health care, including health promotion services, mental health and addictions support and care from a range of practitioners, including doctors, nurse practitioners, dieticians, social workers and respiratory therapists. Under the team-based approach, health professionals, including doctors, receive salaries.

Dr. Vashti King, a family physician who works at the clinic, said she sees the difference the model makes to patients, by addressing a broad range of medical, social and psychological needs. It also makes a difference to physicians like her.

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“I didn’t go into medicine to become a small business owner. At a community health centre, I am salaried. I don’t have to worry about billing. I just get to work with my patients.”

She said the allied health professionals — including respiratory therapists, mental health professionals and community health workers — offer specialized support to patients.

“A lot of patients’ health is not determined by what is going on medically, but what is going on socially and psychologically.”

King said she chose to work in a community health centre, in part, because it offered a better work-life balance. But it is also where she believes she can make the biggest difference for patients, including those with the most complex health and social needs.

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All six non-profit community health centres in Ottawa (there are more than 70 across the province) follow the same model of health and wellbeing, which views health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing that acknowledges that health problems are linked to social inequality. Obiorah calls it the “whole person” approach to health care.

Some of the unique community health centre programming in Ottawa, including system navigators for patients, team care and culturally affirming care for Black communities, newcomer communities and more individuals, have been shown to avert visits to emergency departments, according to the Alliance for Healthier Communities, the organization that represents community health centres.

Crucially, despite serving a population that has significantly more complex health and social needs than the average Ontarian, community health centre patients end up in emergency departments less often. That averts between $20 and $30 million in health costs a year, according to the alliance.