New community health care centre launched in Regina

A new community health centre in Regina will provide seniors with a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to care.

The Gardens Community Health Centre and Seniors House Call Team Expansion will receive $4.3 million in the 2018-19 budget and after that will receive $3 million in support.

“The new Gardens Community Health Centre will serve patients seven days per week, will have extended evening hours and will provide services on weekends and holidays,” Health Minister Jim Reiter said.

“These expanded services will provide care closer to home, better serve patients with complex medical health issues and reduce emergency department visits.”

The multi-disciplinary team at the Gardens will provide seniors with a more comprehensive suite of services than a traditional physician clinic.

The healthcare provider teams, led by Dr. Winston Lok and Dr. Hettie Bouwer, will include physicians, nurses, paramedics, therapists, a pharmacist and a nutritionist, with care plans co-developed by the team, patients and their families.

“When I was first approached by the Seniors House Calls Team and Dr. Bouwer about using these new services, I was a bit skeptical,” Gardens patient family advisor Rob Bridge said.

“I’d been seeing Dr. Bouwer for many years and the thought of having someone else help with my medical needs brought about many questions. However, it didn’t take long for me to see and realize that the prompt and specialized care that the other team members also provided was a real benefit to me and my overall health care.”

The provincial government will be directing $19.2 million in federal funding under the Canada-Saskatchewan Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addiction Funding Services Funding Agreement towards improving through the Connected Care Strategy.