Innovative healthcare initiatives announced as a partnership between Essex County and local health care partners have drawn praise from the provincial Minister of Health.
Sylvia Jones was in Windsor-Essex on Monday, meeting with healthcare workers and local leaders to cut the ribbon on a new multi-purpose medical clinic that officials say will better enable members of the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team to provide responsive, mobile care to residents when and where they need it most.
The mobile clinic will be used by the WEOHT to bring services and care to the local neighbourhoods in Windsor and the county that need it most.
Officials say it builds on the success of the Community Health Fair held back in July in Leamington, which saw a wide range of health care professionals provide care and support to more than 200 people.
The mobile clinic is an evolution of the former Community Response and Stabilization Team, a partnership between Erie Shores HealthCare, Essex-Windsor EMS and in conjunction with High Priority Community initiatives.
It provides the same services with significantly less set-up and will travel around the county, setting up for about a week at a time in high-priority locations which will be advertised ahead of time.
The mobile medical clinic was secured utilizing high-priority community funding, and will be owned and serviced by Essex County.
Jones praised the partnership between the county and the over 40 community groups involved.
"Coming together and bringing their experience. In some cases it is the 40 plus organizations that are already working within community. The County of course with their commitment to maintain and fund the actual, physical vehicle as well as provincial funding."
Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter says they learned during the pandemic just how important it was to be agile and mobile in the delivery of healthcare.
"From farms to long term care homes to vaccination centres and popup clinics. We saw just how important it was to bring healthcare to the people, particularly in high-priority vulnerable communities," he said.
Members of the Mental Health and Addictions Response Team (MHART) were also highlighted during the visit.
The MHART includes an Essex-Windsor EMS Paramedic and a Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Social Worker who respond to 911 calls in an EMS SUV, to better address the demand for non-critical, low to moderate acuity mental health and addictions services in real time.
Krauter says the MHART team and the mobile clinic will enable them to provide care and treatment to residents when and where they need it, helping to alleviate demands in the community and at hospital emergency departments.
"To get into those vulnerable populations and vulnerable populations to provide mental health, amongst other forms of health care options, may it be dental care or may it be priority care," he continued. "But we have the ability to use that vehicle to get into those communities and set up so that we can provide mental health supports with our partners from the OHT."
Jones says while diverging people from emergency rooms is part of the plan with the mobile clinic and MHART team, it's not the primary goal.
She says some emergency department challenges stem from people who aren't attached to a Ontario Health Team or have a family practitioner lacking choice for getting treatment, but this model will give that to people.
"The fact that when people get comfortable and see all of the services that are provided with this team will show that it's a successful model, and we'll continue I hope to build on it in other communities across Ontario."
The mobile clinic has already hit the streets, with Krauter saying they'll be assisting at Brentwood for a few days this week.
In October it will be heading out to Leamington to assist in that area.