The new Access Health Centre on Johnson Street could have been designed for Glenn Maguire.
"I suppose I am the ultimate user," said Maguire, 59, stepping over a jigsaw of construction tools, pipes and drywall as he took his first look inside the building that will house Cool Aid's health and dental centres, AIDS Vancouver Island and Vancouver Island Health Authority's mental-health and addictions services.
The centre at 713 Johnson St., designed to streamline health care for those who are homeless, marginalized or HIV-positive, is set to open in September. Maguire is enthusiastic about having his appointments in the spacious centre instead of the jam-packed health centre under the Streetlink shelter or crowded AVI offices on Blanshard Street.
Maguire, who is HIV-positive and bipolar, is a client and volunteer at AVI and uses Cool Aid's dental, medical, pharmacy and psychiatric services because staff make him feel comfortable.
"I had a suburban doctor, but he wasn't comfortable talking about HIV or mental disease. There is still an attitude that you gave yourself this disease. At AVI and Cool Aid, you don't have to accept pity or blame," said Maguire, adding he has friends who find the system too complicated or are intimidated by the thought of having to identify themselves as HIV-positive. "Having it all under one roof will make it easy."
The new building will double AIDS Vancouver Island's capacity, said executive director Katrina Jensen. AVI's wellness program has more than 300 clients, but can serve only 40 people a day because of limited kitchen and seating space. "Having easy access is really critical for marginalized people," said Jensen, noting the centre will reduce demands on emergency and acute-care facilities.
More than 30 per cent of the estimated 3,000 people who use injection drugs in Victoria do not use primary-health-care services, even though 22 per cent are HIV-positive and 70 per cent have hepatitis C.
Cool Aid executive director Kathy Stinson said the clinic has 4,000 registered patients and six to eight new patients are turned away each day because of lack of space. The new facility will double the number of examination rooms to six.
The goal is to open the centre seven days a week, 12 hours a day, but that will take more VIHA funding. Initially, the facility will open for shorter hours, six days a week, Stinson said.
So far, $3.5 million has been raised. Major donors include the province, city of Victoria, VIHA, Capital Regional District, Victoria Foundation, United Way and numerous other foundations and businesses. Cool Aid and AVI staff and boards contributed $66,000.
But another $1.8 million is needed if the centre is to open mortgage-free. "We spent two years getting government support in place and we were just starting our fundraising campaign when the economy tanked," Stinson said.
