Moncton's Salvus Clinic having tough time finding new place to serve homeless population
The downtown clinic has until Sept. 30 before they have to vacate their premises
In an ironic twist of fate, the Salvus Clinic, which serves the homeless population in Moncton, may end up being homeless itself this fall.
The clinic — a full wraparound community health centre that provides medical care, housing support and help navigating community services — received an eviction notice this winter and has to vacate its premises by Sept. 30.
Melissa Baxter, executive director of the Salvus Clinic, said they have been looking for a new location since February but the search to find a new home "has not proved very successful."
Baxter said many of the potential locations they have visited do not fit their needs.
Other potential sites are ruled out even before they are able to see them.
"We have had several landlords cancel our viewing either the day before or the evening before for one reason or another," she said. "It's disappointing and it's frustrating."
Baxter said their lease was up at their current location in the Peace Centre in downtown Moncton and the space no longer fit their needs.
"We have significantly grown out of the space that we are in currently," she said.
The clinic opened its doors in 2007 with a team of three employees and served a few hundred people. Since then, they've grown to a staff of 24 employees and now serve 3,400 patients every year.
The clinic is also used by more than 250 people as an address to receive their social assistance cheques.
Baxter said expanding within their current location is not an option because another tenant in the building is also expanding and will take over the space.
So now Salvus is tasked with finding a new place to call home.
Baxter said they are looking for a location that will provide easy access to patients with one main entry, space for staff offices and eight medical examination rooms.
Ideally, they hope to find a location in downtown Moncton since the "majority" of the people they serve are located in that area, many of whom are homeless as well as people who are housed but living in poverty.
Typically, the clinic offers similar care to a doctor's office: blood work, medical tests, chronic disease management and wound care.
"We're dealing with such a vulnerable population," she said. "If you or I are to be on top of a chronic disease, that's a different story than if you're unhoused and you don't have regular access to care."
"These types of manageable or preventable health issues can exacerbate," she said.
Mobile health clinic
Another way the clinic provides care is through its mobile health clinic — a large van that is fitted with an exam room, a counselling room and supplies.
"We take the services directly to the clients where they're at," said Ami Ashe, a registered nurse who works with the mobile outreach team at Salvus.
The mobile unit travels to the three shelters in Moncton and will be expanding to other locations throughout the city outside the downtown core.
Ashe said they treat people with a variety of needs: abscesses, infections or mental health issues.
She said many of the patients she sees have had "negative experiences" with health-care workers in the past.
"My role is repairing that relationship and repairing the image they have that some health-care workers really do want to work with them."
Once that trust is reestablished, Ashe said she encourages them to come to the clinic for follow-up care and to provide extra support with housing, addiction services or getting social assistance.
"If they're able to come to the clinic and we can meet multiple times, we can start to deal with all the bigger issues," she said.
"Maybe you're interested in trying to reduce or stop your substance use. We can start you on medication for that. We can connect you with services."
'It's what got me off the streets'
Andrew Raven experienced that kind of support firsthand.
He came to the Salvus Clinic as a client more than a decade ago and described it as a "huge support system" in his life.
"It's what got me off the streets. They're the only people that really kind of listened to me when I was down at my worst."
He said he didn't have a family doctor but needed certain medications.
"A lot of people didn't wanna deal with me because I was an addict," he said. "They took me on as a client right away."
That support helped Raven get to where he is now, an employee of the Salvus Clinic. He started working with the mobile health clinic about a year ago as the peer health navigator.
"It's been quite a journey," he said.
In his job, Raven helps the vulnerable population by supporting them as needed whether it's accompanying them to the hospital or helping them get social assistance.
"We need a place for people to be able to come to," he said. "We can't really do that all through a mobile unit."
'Unsure what will happen'
Melissa Baxter said "it's all hands on deck" with members of the Salvus Clinic's board of firectors and an internal team searching for a new location.
But it's still not clear what will happen if they don't find a suitable space.
"At this point, we're not sure," she said.
Baxter said some of their housing support team could work from home and the mobile unit will continue but it doesn't offer the full array of services.
"We won't be able to operate a medical clinic from individual homes.... So we're unsure what will happen under those circumstances," she said.
"This is an accessible service," Baxter said about the clinic. "We're not going to close the door on them and we're going to treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve."
Baxter said they are starting to look outside of the downtown area for locations but can only consider a spot that is a couple of kilometres outside of the city core.
"We are feeling we're in a bit of a scramble right now to find a location," she said. "It is quite ironic."
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