Nearly four years after Dr. Andrew Boozary came up with the idea of a mobile clinic, a pilot project for the concept helping Toronto’s underserved community is up and running.
The clinic’s main goal is to increase access to primary care for the city’s vulnerable communities and the University Health Network (UHN) teamed up with the Toronto Public Library (TPL) to have them set up at various library branches throughout the city last month.
The clinic is staffed with a Registered Nurse, nurse practitioner and a community health worker, and is capable of providing much of the same medical care that a General Practitioner or family doctor might provide.
Dr. Andrew Boozary, the executive director of UHN’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, tells CityNews they’ve already seen dozens of patients.
“People are surprised by the scale and scope of services that are in what ostensibly looks like a regular, large van.”
The hope is that those who need the services face as few barriers as possible. Those who visit do not need to show any identification or have an OHIP card.
Staff are also trained to interact with those who may have reservations seeking healthcare due to mistrust or safety concerns.
According to Boozary, there are hundreds of thousands of people across Ontario who lack access to primary care.
“This is just one vehicle. It’s not a silver bullet for all of the primary care issues across the system, but I think it’s a reflection and I think an acknowledgment that we have to deliver healthcare differently,” shared Boozary.
There are currently two vans in operation. Each costs about $200,000, with funding provided by the province and through philanthropy.
The mobile team allowed CityNews to follow along as they set up camp at TPL’s Sanderson branch near Bathurst and Dundas Streets.
“To have these services right here at the library is just a wonderful opportunity to bridge those people to those services but also link them to other services around the city,” said Aly Velji, the senior manager of adult services at TPL.
Sanderson is the only branch the mobile clinic has served so far. The van operates four days a week: one day at the library and the other three at Toronto Community Housing locations. But the goal is to expand.
“[TPL] is already identifying branches that would really benefit from having dedicated healthcare access for clients and folks who are accessing public libraries. We know that’s refugee newcomers, older adults, some people that have been unhoused,” said Boozary.
“We’d like to see it grow and we’d like to look at other opportunities and other locations where we can continue to build this service as well,” added Velji.
For now, you can find the mobile clinic at the Sanderson branch every Wednesday afternoon from 1 p.m to 4 p.m.
