Seymour Street clinic serves unmet needs

A speed bump on the way to life on the Downtown Eastside — that’s how Rob
Kolen describes the Downtown South Community Health Centre. The interdisciplinary
resource serves 3,000 clients a year, most of whom are struggling to overcome
health issues such as addictions, poverty, mental illness or HIV/AIDS.

“The problems and way of life aren’t as entrenched here as they are on the
Downtown Eastside,” says Kolen, who manages the free clinic located at the south
end of Vancouver’s Seymour Street.

“These people have huge medical needs,” says Dr. Fraser Norrie, a clinical
instructor in UBC’s Family Practice Dept. who works part-time at the clinic.
“They also may need food, shelter, advocacy or counselling — these all have
to be taken care of if we’re to help medically.”

Norrie is one of five family practice physicians working at the centre along
with nurse clinicians, community counsellors, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses
and alcohol and drug counsellors — 25 professionals in all. Two doctors, two
nurses and two community counsellors are on shift at any one time.

The centre is a training site for family practice residents who complete a
one-month rotation in their first year.

Undergraduate medical students from UBC who are interested in treating underserved
populations also train at the centre.

“Students and residents are an integral part of the clinic,” says Norrie.

Many of the clients are intravenous drug users and the centre’s needle exchange
program distributes about 12,000 needles per month. There are about 2.5 million
needles exchanged annually in all of Vancouver’s exchange programs.

The exchange program can serve as a gateway to treatment, says Kolen.

“Most of our clients have multi-drug addictions which are very difficult to
treat,” he says.” Our clients have a better chance of recovery here than in
a traditional medical setting, however. We can literally walk them over to see
someone who can help. They don’t get bounced around the system.”

The 360-square-metre clinic has examining rooms, lab space and group meeting
rooms. In addition to offering medical and counselling attention six days a
week, it provides a youth program each weekday evening and a drop-in program
three nights a week for young male street workers.

Another interdisciplinary project provides a clinic one day a week that focuses
on the health issues of gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals.

“There’s an ambience here that is healing,” says Family Practice Asst. Prof.
Stefan Grzybowski. “People who come here often have trouble with behaviour and
boundaries but they act appropriately here — that’s something special.”

The interprofessional team at the centre is serving as a model to other clinics
that are getting started in Surrey and Burnaby.

“Our clients tell us we’ve made a positive impact on this neighbourhood,”
says Kolen. “That kind of feedback means a lot.”

St. Paul’s Hospital, the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver/Richmond Health
Board, the Ministry of Health and other municipal and provincial agencies support
the Downtown South Community Health Centre.

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