It was standing-room only at St. George's Parish Hall on Tuesday as about 200 people turned out for the launch of a new, state-of-the-art mobile health clinic vehicle to help provide service to those who need it.
Marie-France LeBlanc, executive director of the North End Community Health Centre, said the new vehicle will be an upgrade from the old red van that served the centre's Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH) program, which has been in place for 10 years.
"We go wherever we're needed," LeBlanc said after the launch announcement. "If we hear there's a group of homeless people that have set up shop - like the Centennial Arena tends to be a place where there's a lot of needle exchanges and things like that - we'll go there. But on a regular basis, we have a regular schedule that we go to for all the shelters in the area. That's something we do every week."
MOSH also partners with a variety of organizations such as Mainline, the needle exchange, Direction 180, the methadone clinic, and Stepping Stone, which works with sex trade workers, to bring weekly service to people who need health care but don't normally get it, LeBlanc said.
"MOSH is just one program, but underserviced communities are not just homeless people, so we have a primary health-care clinic," LeBlanc said. "Maybe we need to go do a pop-up in north Dartmouth, where right now they're trying to get (a) primary health-care clinic but they don't have one, so can we go and set up over there with a partner and say OK, once a week we're going to be in here.
"We've got so many ideas. ... This really just opens it up for us to be able to maximize those ideas."
Telus Mobility is footing the bill for the kitted-out Mercedes van, which is tall enough for someone under 6-foot-5 to stand in without bumping their head, and long enough to house a work station with laptop, storage for medical supplies, and a full-sized patient exam table and health-care worker's chair.
It's also equipped with Wi-Fi and game-changing access to electronic medical records.
LeBlanc estimated the total investment to be in the $500,000 range, including the capital cost and four years of operational support from Telus.
"The technology is spectacular," she said. "And it's really important.
"The whole province has gone to electronic medical records for the most part. We transitioned our bricks and mortar clinic to it, but, of course, with our previous van, we couldn't. We had people with iPads trying to figure (it) out. You couldn't connect, and you didn't have internet, and so you would have someone show up and it would be blank space. ... Now, this will completely connect us. There won't be anyone that comes in that we can't either start building a history for them or access what they've got and really provide them the best care possible. So that's huge."
The van also honours the memory of MOSH founder Patti Melanson, the advocate for health care for vulnerable communities, nurse, and Order of Nova Scotia recipient who died of cancer in December 2018.
Area resident Amy Moonshadow said it was a happy day for the community.
"I think this is truly wonderful," she said after looking over the vehicle. "The North End Clinic continues to fit the needs of the immediate community and I know lots of folks that will use it."
She said it will enhance service for those who don't want to go into big offices or prefer to maintain their privacy.
"Everything from gyno examinations to eye examinations - it's the full-meal deal," Moonshadow said. "It's the North End Clinic on wheels."
The Halifax mobile clinic is one of several projects funded by Telus's Health for Good program, which will spend $10 million in total, serving communities across Canada.
Ken Power, Telus regional director, Atlantic Canada and vice-chairman, Atlantic Canada Community Board, said it will be important to stay closely connected to the Halifax clinic "to make sure this evolves with the needs of the community."
