A second mobile health clinic will be coming to Victoria, nearly doubling the care the Victoria Cool Aid Society and Telus Health For Good currently provide to the city’s most vulnerable populations.
Victoria’s first mobile health clinic, also operated by Telus and Cool Aid, was launched in 2021 and has enabled roughly 14,000 encounters with citizens across Greater Victoria to date. After expanding the van’s days of operation per week from four to five, operators realized “there was a lot more need” for another mobile clinic.
“It’s really hard for people to access health care in Victoria, especially people that are marginalized and struggling with mental health and addictions,” said Candide Dias, co-ordinator of mobile health services at Cool Aid.
The mobile health clinic offers primary care services such as wound care, routine testing, contraception, specialist referrals, women’s health services, STI treatment, harm reduction services, mental health care and counselling.
Dias described the van as “a little doctor’s office on wheels,” complete with a fully-operational examination table, an AED, a centrifuge and a separate reception area. Doctors also have the ability to access electronic medical records.
Health outreach clinicians on the vans also provide administrative aid, including help completing BC Housing applications.
The second van is expected to further expand the program’s reach and impact. Following a partnership with the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness, the clinic will dedicate a full day to serving Indigenous clients in Victoria. The new van will also take part in a new night program to provide services to sex workers in Victoria.
The existing medical clinic visits approximately 20 sites per week around Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich and Central Saanich on a two-week rotation. Locations include the Pandora corridor, encampments, soup kitchens and supportive housing sites.
Karen Lundgren, manager of nursing and outreach site operations at Cool Aid, said visiting the sites on a routine schedule provides much-needed stability and predictability for individuals who might be weary of the health-care system.
“One of the strategies is being consistent with our schedules, showing up to the same places at the same time and usually with the same team regularly so we have a chance to build a rapport with the clients,” Lundgren said.
Mobile clinics are becoming a more common method of providing outreach to vulnerable populations in Canada, Dias said. Telus is now offering support through similar mobile clinics in 25 communities across the country.
“It’s just really great to be able to meet people where the needs are,” Dias said.
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