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Mobile Health Van concept will soon service vulnerable people of Guelph, says Sanguen

To have a healthy, strong community, says program director Colin McVicker, 'we have to take care of our most vulnerable'
20170921 Sanguen Health Centre Mobile Health Van KA
Colin McVicker and Alice Maguire of Sanguen Health Centre stand in front of a map being used to determine a possible service area for the organization's new Mobile Health Van. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday

Vulnerable people may not always be able to make appointments or go on waiting lists, says the program director of Sanguen Health Centre, so the not-for-profit health care agency is set to expand their Mobile Health Van concept to Guelph in an effort to bring services to them.

Over 20,000 individual visits have been logged to Sanguen Health Centre's existing Mobile Health Van in Waterloo since it was launched in 2015, said program director Colin McVicker.

This October, the centre is launching a Mobile Health Van to service Guelph and surrounding area.

“Our mandate is to help support those who experience a high degree of marginalization as a result of chronic homelessness, addictions and mental health. We want to reduce some of the barriers for people wanting to access the essential supports they need," said McVicker.

Some of their clients may not be able to attend traditional clinics for one of many reasons, said McVicker, including past trauma experiences dealing with health care centres, no trespass orders and the like.

“We have found the van has been one of the solution to engage people in a more equitable fashion, where the van will actually roll up to their community, as opposed to asking them to come to our outreach centre, clinics or traditional service hubs," said McVicker.

Alice Maguire, social support coordinator for Sanguen Health Centre, said the van will house many services, including harm reduction kits and Noloxone to basic hygiene needs, food, water and basic clothing.

“The van is going to provide all of those things in different areas of the van, so there will be a place to sit down and talk to a support coordinator or a nurse, as well as having a place to access food and those basic needs,” said Maguire.

Sanguen began as a agency providing services related to Hepatitis C, said Maguire, but has expanded to providing community health services.

McVicker said each member of the five-person team which will staff the van specializes in harm reduction and overdose prevention for their clients, many of which he says may have experienced marginilization through health care and social services.

“It’s one of the things we are very proud of on our team, everyone understands the value in life. If that (client) chooses to use substances and live at risk, we still value the life. We work tirelessly to send that message out there that we are a safe place for you to engage." 

Currently, Sanguen Health Centre is seeking feedback regarding the areas their Mobile Health Van can visit to be most effective.

“We are interested in hearing from our community where we should be and if there were community partners who had ideas around that too we would be interested in hearing about them,” said McVicker.

He admits the centre has run into some NIMBYism, wherein some people may support the cause, as long as it's 'not in my backyard'.

"Either people get what we want to do or people don’t. Sometimes when you’re scared and you don’t understand it is really easy to not want to engage. The reality is people are using substances, people are chronically homeless and have chronic mental health and addictions — that’s not new — and it’s in our backyard,” said McVicker.

To have a healthy, strong community, says McVicker, "we have to take care of our most vulnerable."

The Guelph Mobile Health Van has a funding commitment for two years as a result of a Trillium Foundation grant from the province of Ontario.

McVicker has a counter argument for those who may be leery about taxpayer dollars being spent on harm reduction and other services for vulnerable people, some of which are users of drugs.

"The reality is the emergency room is the most expensive entry point into the health care system. We see the Community Van as trying to get ahead of that," he said.

“We can run these community vans for a fraction of a cost and at a high level of dignity, so the people who want to live as healthily as they can have that opportunity,” McVicker added.

Sanguen is the lead agency in the Mobile Health Van project in Guelph, along with partner agencies including Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health and ARCH.

Even when marginalized people try to get on the right path, said McVicker, society often puts up barriers.

"They don’t fit our wait lists, they don’t fit our program criteria. They are too unwell or they are not unwell enough. We can get them housing, but because of their substance abuse we can’t keep them there because that’s against the rules. That’s the reality of our culture,” he said.

McVicker said the centre is working hard to educate people about their clientele.

"The reality is our clientele could be anybody. At one point they may have been that middle class person who had a job who basically looked a lot like you and me. Through no fault of their own had something happen in their life to change that,” said McVicker.

The existing Mobile Health Van in Waterloo is supported by various local agencies and businesses and McVicker hopes similar entities in Guelph will be as generous.

The front area of the van is planned to feature food items, as well as clothing.

The rear of the van will be supplied with items intended to reduce harm in users, including safe marijuana-using supplies, crack kits, safe injection kits, crystal meth smoking kits and meth pipes — but McVicker said its the way Sanguen staff treat the clients that can make the biggest difference.

“It’s not just clean syringes and supplies — those are important — it’s also about people valuing people where they are at. Honouring that and not trying to change them or shame them, but still trying to find a way to work with people who choose to live at risk,” he said.


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Kenneth Armstrong

About the Author: Kenneth Armstrong

Kenneth Armstrong is a news reporter and photojournalist who regularly covers municipal government, business and politics and photographs events, sports and features.
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