There is always somewhere for Victoria鈥檚 youth to go for health care 鈥� no matter what their situation.
Young people considered at particular risk for health issues, perhaps because of involvement with street life or sex work, are the reason the Victoria Youth Clinic exists. Partly funded by the Children鈥檚 Health Foundation of Vancouver Island, the walk-in clinic is focused on 12- to 25-year-olds, and in the past few years has seen a large increase in the number of individuals needing mental-health care.
Addictions and unwanted pregnancy are also a big part of the clinic鈥檚 caseload.
鈥淭he reason we go up to 25 is because we like to capture people in the 鈥榯ransition鈥� years,鈥� said social worker Lorna Mace.
鈥淎 lot of people age out of services at 19, particularly the Ministry of Children and Family Development.鈥�
The clinic format is to provide treatment ranging from medication and contraceptives to counselling.
It operates out of 533 Yates St. with doctors, nurses and many other health-care professionals, but will move to 818聽Douglas St. in the fall to form a youth mental-mental health 鈥渉ub鈥� with NEED2 Suicide Prevention Education and Support, the Island Health Early Psychosis Intervention Team and other groups.
Some clients use the clinic because they don鈥檛 have family doctors, Mace said. 鈥淪ometimes people will come in even if they do have a family doctor just because their needs are really complex.鈥�
Mental-health issues are often the basis of those cases, Mace said.
鈥淪o we have a number of regular doctors who are here and will follow you closely and quite heavily in the beginning if the mental-health needs are really high.鈥�
Many of the patients at the clinic have had a lot of childhood trauma in their lives, Mace said.
鈥淲e do see youth who often have a vast array of things going on, including both mental-health and physical-health problems and also social problems.鈥�
They come from a variety of backgrounds, she said.
鈥淪o lack of income, homelessness, working in the sex trade or working in the drug trade, high risk of sexual exploitation, people who are running away frequently, people who are using substances heavily.鈥�
Also common are youth with anxiety or depression, or suicidal thoughts.
Part of the increase in mental-health cases is simply due to awareness, with people more likely to talk about it these days, Mace said.
Drugs, including fentanyl, are another factor.
鈥淚 think the substances on the street have changed so significantly that they are permanently changing people鈥檚 brains and we鈥檙e seeing a lot of mental-health issues that are coming along with that,鈥� Mace said. 鈥淧eople who have multiple overdoses as a youth, for example, every time they overdose their brain is being deprived of oxygen.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e seeing emerging brain issues and brain injuries.鈥�
Another problem is that mental-health services can be very difficult to navigate, Mace said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a perfect system, there鈥檚 a lot of gaps that people can fall into.鈥�
She said clinic staff can help patients navigate the mental-health system and get the help they need. As a social worker, that is one of her areas of responsibility, Mace said.
Most large cities have something similar to the Victoria clinic, she said.
鈥淏ut it is a unique place in the sense that we鈥檙e very different from a regular walk-in clinic and we鈥檙e very different from a doctor鈥檚 office because of the supports that we provide.鈥�
That includes two counsellors trained in doing hormone assessments for youth who are gender transitioning, a nurse to deal with sexual-health concerns, a psychiatrist and an addictions counsellor, Mace said. A laboratory technician is in once a week to do blood work or test for sexually transmitted infections.
Along with the Children鈥檚 Health Foundation, funding comes from the United Way, Island Health and the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
There is a huge need to fill, Mace said.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in the clinic working here it鈥檚 completely obvious that not only is the work needed, we need more of it.鈥�