a year of resiliency and the promise of hope
ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - 2021
from the Chair and
Message from the Board Chair
We are living through a historic, unprecedented time of planning, change and challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, and we work together to respond. We could not have predicted all that would transpire, nor how we would be tested - professionally and personally. While many of our initiatives have been impacted by COVID-19, we remain committed to improving access and patient experience, delivering safe, quality care and supporting people to be healthy and well. In fact, the SHCHC has increased access by over 12%, seeing 12,215 clients from just over 9,100 last year. Looking ahead, as we continue the important work of reintroducing our full scope of on-site services, we will also focus our attention on a new strategic plan, updating our key actions and incorporating what we learned from our pandemic response where possible. Community is at the heart of everything we do at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre (SHCHC). It centres us as we live through the outbreak of the coronavirus, economic disruptions and calls for social justice, as well as the uncertainty of what might come next. Today, more of us than ever before understand the chasm of disparities and the need for systems change.
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What we already knew, the pandemic has served to reveal for others. Pre-existing inequities in housing, education, health care, food security, criminal justice and employment have a disproportionate impact on health and well-being. As vaccination rates increase and the effects of the pandemic are lessening, we remain rooted in our commitment to recover and aid in the renewal of our communities, and keeping the spotlight on the disparities in our society and how to address them. Our staff have done an outstanding job of being resilient in the face of uncertainty and coming together as one team. They’ve brought their expertise and perspective towards a shared goal and focus, and achieved impressive results. We hope to build on this spirit of collaboration and cooperation in 2021 to achieve our vision of every one in our community will have an equitable opportunity for health and well-being. Over the past year, the Centre has achieved remarkable success with our Community COVID-19 Response Strategy, and we have been recognized provincially for our work as part of the High-Risk Neighborhood Initiative. We have been successful in providing targeted testing options to disproportionately impacted communities. Data confirms that our testing sites and mobile testing team have been effective at reaching low-income individuals (31% of tests conducted), immigrants and newcomers (39% of tests conducted), and racialized communities (37% of tests conducted). Our neighborhood outreach teams, which represent a collaboration between 14 partner organizations, have provided culturally appropriate and accessible COVID-19 prevention resources to more than 37,000 residents in vulnerable neighborhoods in Ottawa.
and Executive Director
Executive Director Through the collaboration with Ottawa Public Health’s Contact Tracing and Case Management Team, SHCHC and Ottawa Health Team - Équipe santé Ottawa (OHTÉSO) partners have provided wraparound supports to 795 COVID-19 positive residents/families and high-risk contacts, in an effort to address the social determinants of health and enabling them to effectively self-isolate. Since the start of the pandemic, technology has become a predominant factor in the pandemic environment, from working at home to online family celebrations. Virtual health care has, almost overnight and out of necessity, become essential to providing timely and safe health care. Virtual health visits and consultations have become a ‘new norm’. Mental health and substance use concerns have also emerged from the shadows of COVID-19, and have been exacerbated by a toxic drug supply and the stress of social isolation and anxiety. Normal social and familial interactions have been disrupted as people are sheltering and working at home, avoiding gatherings and travel, and deal with the economic hardships of income loss and employment displacement. Vaccinations may control the coronavirus infections but not the toll of depression, anxiety, abusive relations, alcohol and drug use, selfharm and suicide. Aynsley Morris, Board Chair
As a response to the increasing demand of mental health and addiction counselling requests, SHCHC with OHTÉSO partners created the virtual care pathway called Counselling Connect / Counseling on connecte. Since May 2020, more than 6,300 individuals have booked a counselling appointment. Over 1,000 appointments are made available each month, staffed by 100 counsellors at 20 partner organizations. Through surveys, we’ve heard that clients find Counselling Connect / Counseling on connecte is providing service that effectively meets their needs, in a more accessible format than the traditional inperson appointments. As we look forward to the rest of 2021 and the years ahead, we know there will be many more opportunities to bring exceptional health care to even more clients in our city and beyond. We are actively engaged in this work, and know that we could not do it without your partnerships. Thank you for being part of SHCHC’s mission and for your support that makes it all possible!
David Gibson, Executive Director
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Resiliency, adaptability and caring
adaptability Taking responsibility for the health of our community In Health Services, we continued to provide on-site primary care services to clients, and shifted many appointments to telephone and virtual visits. Our Nurses supported the COVID-19 Testing Site at Brewer Arena from March to September 2020, and in September we began to offer Community COVID-19 testing on-site, a Centre-wide initiative involving staff from many teams. The new testing site has been very well received by our community. The team Primary Care Outreach for Seniors (PCO) provided phone support to vulnerable seniors and resumed home visits when allowed by Public Health directives. We are very proud that we could offer valuable learning experiences for nursing student placements within the COVID-19 restrictions.
It’s been an incredible privilege to be able to speak with so many of our clients during the pandemic, coordinating care, providing triage, offering health advice and recommending community resources.
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- Annette Tirschler, RN, working from home as Telephone/Task Nurse
resiliency Working during a pandemic caring Our nurses Although life as we knew it changed when the coronavirus pandemic started, the essential character of nurses has not. Their courage and dedication to patients, and the teamwork nurses so naturally bring to caring for patients and each other has been strengthened. Despite this time of social distancing, nurses are still providing the human connection patients need to help heal as they navigate illness and pandemic fear. - Shelley Reid, RN, Nursing Team Lead
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Thank you so much for offering testing services here, at Sandy Hill CHC. I live downtown, I don’t have a car, and I know I’m not supposed to take public transportation to get to Brewer Arena. Last time I got sick, I just isolated for the 14 days.”
Stay positive, test negative. But if you do test positive, I’ll call you and explain what you have to do. - Derrick St John, RN, COVID-19 Testing Clinic - Site Lead
- COVID-19 testing client and her infant at SHCHC
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2020-2021 at a glance
at a glance Managing chronic disease In Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Management, we changed our in-person health promotion groups to a virtual platform, and moved all the individual dietitian, health coaching and fitness appointments to phone and virtual visits. The participation in the health promotion groups increased, as the shift to a virtual platform removed barriers many people had to accessing on-site groups (e.g. transportation, child/elder care, etc.). We offered numerous nutrition workshops in partnership with the Parent Resource Centre and Strathcona Heights, and provided valuable learning experiences for kinesiology, dietitian and nursing students within the COVID-19 restrictions.
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Virtual exercise groups have been a lifeline, and the Creative Writing online classes have been excellent! - SHCHC client
COVID-19 initiatives
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The Client Access Team has been active in COVID-19 response activities. The Client Access Workers provide timely case support to help community members solve practical barriers when required to isolate. The Central Reception team provides the administrative backbone for the COVID-19 Testing Service. Special project funding has allowed us to provide Infection Prevention and Control information and support to partner agencies in the youth sector.
virtual services Transitioning to virtual services
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The pandemic definitely brought on some new learning for all of us!”
At the declaration of the first stay-at-home order in March 2020, Addictions and Mental Health Services and the Client Access Team worked around the clock to transition and re-open with virtual service options. Psychotherapy, Counselling, Case Management, Care Coordination, Smoking Cessation, Back-on-Track, Smart Recovery and the Drug and Alcohol Education Group have been offered continuously through the year, first by phone and later with video options.
Accessibility and development of alternatives for Walk-in Social Services One of the highest priorities for the teams was to develop creative alternatives to walk-in social services. The Client Access Team immediately increased availability to respond to phone calls in a timely way and provided support over the phone. The team also contributed resources to Counselling Connect, a city-wide collaboration to provide same day/ next day single session counselling by video or phone. Recognizing that digital equity issues made virtual service inaccessible for some clients, the teams were also able to support some clients to access technology on site to access services. Many community members previously accessed walk-in services for practical supports such as the Emergency Food Cupboard and Laundry Vouchers. The team now prepares these resources for pick-up at the door.
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a place A place for all people for all Oasis Program hopes for a better ‘normal’ This year, Oasis was challenged with figuring out how to run four essential services under COVID-19 restriction (Consumption and Treatment Service, Primary Care Clinic, Opioid Agonist Treatment and Case Management services), and the team were exceptionally responsive and managed to have an incredible 41,794 client contacts across its services, most of them face-to-face due to inadequate access to technology for people who are homeless or unstably housed. We don’t want things to return to ‘normal’. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that ‘normal’ was not working for a lot of people. We need to think about equitable recovery, and that the lessons learned will help us build better systems and services for marginalized people.
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The Supervised Consumption Site is staffed by some of the most genuine and professional staff who are always making the care of the clients their number one priority! They make you feel that you are in good hands should complications arise from the drugs that a person has consumed, they respect the wishes of the client to the maximum that they can, but they don’t hesitate to do what needs to be done when it’s not plausible to abide to some preferences of the client.”
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- Client review on Google
access and safety Our safe environment
Property Management Team has viewed the pandemic as an opportunity to do some updates in areas of the building that would have normally seen much more traffic. In addition to performing daily cleaning routines throughout the building, the team upgraded all fluorescent fixtures in the building to efficient LED lighting and replaced carpeting with easy-to-clean vinyl flooring in office areas. With spring upon us, our efforts have moved outside, where we’re working to create a safe and beautiful space for staff to have outdoor meetings and events. - Kyle Heney, Property Manager
Involving our community As the COVID-19 pandemic continued on, summer programming options for children and young people living in Strathcona Heights was limited. With so many programs turning virtually as a means to connect with each other, the SHCHC, along with MASC* community muralist and multidisciplinary artist Claudia Salguero, took a unique approach by inviting 32 Sandy Hill residents to work separately, yet collaboratively, to create a mural that would be installed in the neighborhood. Each participant received a copy of their segment of the mural outline, paints, brushes and a canvas on which to work. Guided by a video, they brought their own creative vision to the piece of the mural ‘puzzle’. The canvases were then collected, and Claudia used her years of mural creation experience to connect them into one beautiful piece. After that, the whole artwork was photographed, and the image was printed onto an aluminum panel and installed permanently in the community.
* MASC - Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities
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Accountable to our clients and funders
accountability Social Services/ Crisis Walk-in
Back-on-Track Outreach
Access to SHCHC services (based on client survey responses) Note: clients may have accessed multiple services.
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Case Management Oasis Harm reduction supplies ID Clinic Mental Health or Addictions Counselling
Chiropody Primary Care
Community Development
Health Promotion
I have been a patient at SHCHC for 40 years, and continue to be grateful and amazed at all the services that are provided to us, patients. The care has always been top notch, and the staff are always warm and welcoming. I will always recommend Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.” - SHCHC client
The COVID-19 Testing Site In 2020-2021, 2,429 COVID tests were performed at the fixed testing site at SHCHC, as part of the OHT-ÉSO emergency pandemic response. 2,076 unique clients were tested and received wrap-around support, as required. Approximately 6% of these individuals tested positive for COVID.
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12,215
Number of active clients (includes Chiropody, CTS and Intensive Case Management)
69,427
Number of contacts
10,176 1,326
Number of client and community member attendances to personal development groups Number of people seen for Substance Use and Problem Gambling or Case Management
8,476
Number of people seen in Primary Care
655
Number of people seen for chronic disease prevention and management
funders
2020-2021 sources of revenue We would like to gratefully acknowledge the continuous support of our funders, community partners and private donors. For complete details, please refer to the audited financial statements and notes available on the Centre’s website.
REVENUE
2020-2021
2%
5%
MOHLTC/ Champlain LHIN
1%
1%
6% 1%
MCSS/MCYS CMHA City of Ottawa Other grants
84%
Miscellaneous Amortization of deferred grants
CMHA - Canadian Mental Health Association LHIN - Local Health Integration Network MCSS - Ministry of Community and Social Services MCYS - Ministry of Children and Youth Services MOHLTC - Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
We are proud to be part of the Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres of Ottawa. Sandy Hill CHC @SandyHillCHC Sandy Hill Community Health Centre Sandy Hill Community Health Centre • 221 Nelson Street • Ottawa (ON) • K1N 1C7 • 613.789.1500 • www.shchc.ca
Our vision
Every one in our community will
vision
have an equitable opportunity for health and well-being.
mission Our mission To lead and innovate in personcentred primary health care and community well-being.
The vision to change, the courage to succeed
For 46 years, the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre has been dedicated to meeting the health needs of a diverse community that is rich in terms of people, culture and heritage. We are grateful for the strength of commitment of our Board of Directors, the dedication of our staff and volunteers and the allegiance of our corporate supporters. Most of all, we are grateful for what we learn from our clients, who work so hard to find success and make a healthy life for themselves, their families and for their community.
Board of Directors
Leadership Team
Aynsley Morris Leila Bocksch Miquelon Deller Kim Brown Dan Roach Glen Barber Guy Desaulniers Michel Duquet Rebecca Gibbons Bernice-Marie Kalubiaka Brian Legris (R) Peggy Lobay (R) Michael Mullan Marguerite Nadeau Lesley Ng Kayla Charlery Candace Hebert
David Gibson Rob Boyd Wendy Chong
We are proud to be part of the Coalition of Community Health and Resources Centres of Ottawa.
_______________ (R) - Resigned
- Board Chair - Vice-Chair - Vice-Chair - Treasurer - Board Secretary - Board Director Design: Cristina Coiciu - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Board Director - Staff Representative - Staff Representative
- Executive Director - Director of Oasis Program - Director of Quality Improvement and Performance Management Matthew Garrison - Director of Human Resources, Administration and Information Technology Nancy Knudsen - Director of Health Services and Director of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Management Robin McAndrew - Director of Client Access and Director of Addiction and Mental Health Services Michelle Nemeth - Director of Finance
Team Leaders - Stefan Amyotte • Tali Cahill • Emily Clark • Gerald Dragon • Annabelle Finucan • Louise Goodman • Candace Hebert • Kyle Heney • Camille Lussier-Waters • Christian Prevost • Shelley Reid Design: Cristina Coiciu