KITCHENER DOWTOWN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE
PHYSICIAN INFORMATION
The Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre (KDCHC) is an interdisciplinary primary health care centre dedicated to working with diverse cultural groups, Aboriginal communities, the homeless, youth, seniors and others living in the downtown area of Kitchener. We work with a wide range of clients and specifically with clients who experience barriers to access, be that economic, educational, language, sexuality, mental health and addictions etc.
KDCHC is a not for profit organization funded by the WWLHIN. It has a community based volunteer Board of Directors that is responsible for oversight of the whole organization. All staff of the CHC are salaried.
Staff work in a collaborative manner, working across disciplines and in collaboration with community partners and community services to provide client centred and assets based care and support to clients we work with. KDCHC works from a social determinants of health perspective, in that we take seriously all the factors that contribute to the health or lack thereof of a client. KDCHC is currently developing a client centred collaborative care (C4) model that will more effectively guide the work between clients, staff and the organization. KDCHC is an organization suited to a physician who is committed to working in a supportive and collegial environment where the skills, knowledge and experience of staff and clients is respected.
KDCHC works in partnership and collaboratively with a wide range of community agencies and service providers, specifically including a regional diabetes program, programs for the homeless/at risk populations, a mental health and addictions program focussed on ethnocultural communities, Public Health dental programs, Asthma and COPD community program as examples.
Staffing:
KDCHC has 3 Directors:
Executive Director: Provides overall oversight for the organization including setting budgets, setting strategic directions etc
Director of Client Services: Supports and supervises all programs and services staff -Clinical, Diabetes, Health Promotion and Community Development staff. Assists in development of all client services and programs. Ongoing relationship building with community agencies and services.
Director Of Administration: Role includes support and supervision to administrative staff, HR, payroll etc.
KDCHC has the following staff positions related to primary health care services:
3 FTE Physicians
3.8 FTE Nurse Practitioners
3 FTE Registered Nurses
2 FTE Social Workers (providing services for adults, children and families)
1 FTE Registered Dietitian
1 FTE Chiropodist
We seek to utilize the full scope of practice for each discipline and value working together with the client and all internal and external service providers to assist the client in self managing their care, to the best of their ability.
KDCHC has the following staff positions related to health promotion and community development work:
3 FTE Community Health Workers
1 FTE Health Promoter
.7 FTE Breastfeeding Buddies Coordinator
KDCHC has the following staff positions related to Community based Diabetes Education (for people with low to moderate risk Type 2 Diabetes)
2 FTE Registered Nurse
2 FTE Registered Dietitian
KDCHC also has administrative staff for the Primary care services (2 FTE Reception staff, 1 FTE Team lead for admin and 1 FTE Medical Secretary) and for other organizational needs.
Primary Care services
KDCHC provides both onsite primary care services to rostered clients as well as Nurse Practitioner led outreach clinics at 2 shelters and 2 community sites, working with the homeless/at risk populations and women and children fleeing violence.
Clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds and clients represent all levels of acuity. Approximately 60 % of clients are immigrants. KDCHC provides paid interpreters to work with staff and client in order to provide the best level of care possible.
An average appointment for a client with a physician or nurse practitioner is ½ an hour in length. Appointments with interpreters are often 1 hour in length. While practitioners do not see a large volume of clients every day, they are able to provide a more thorough and deeper level of care to each client that they see.
Physicians tend to work with clients with a higher level of acuity and co-morbidities.
Physicians support the work of Nurse Practitioners in providing consult services when issues arise that are beyond the NP’s scope of practice.
We are currently working toward full implementation of Electronic Health Records.
We provide opportunities for various students including: medical students, medical residents, RN, NP, Social Work students, Pharmacy students within the clinical program.
Health Promotion and Community Development
We work to support and organize many of the priority populations listed above. KDCHC provides working groups where people with lived experience are given a voice in the issues that affect them as well as a way to advocate for changes that are required in our community and society.
We assist clients in acquiring the required ID to receive health care and other services not provided by KDCHC.
We continue to develop a wide range of health promotion groups and activities, both for clients, volunteers and members of the community.
We also employ contract staff for projects such as the Homeless/At risk Peer Worker program, the Community Health Worker Peer program (focussed on the African community) and the Mental Health Navigator Peer Worker program.
Organizational Roles:
Administrative duties include the normal functions related to charting, reviewing labs etc. Physicians support each other by reviewing labs etc when a colleague is away. In addition to providing primary care, physicians attend staff and team meetings, participate in organizational and clinical specific training and education, and as assigned, participate in organizational development issues such as strategic planning, policy development etc.
Compensation:
Compensation is a very competitive salary. Salary range information is available on request. The package includes extended health benefits, 10 days of Professional Development, 4 weeks of vacation to start (for the 1st two years) plus 10 “public” holidays, 2 float days and accrued sick time of 15 days per year; Employer/employee RRSP benefit
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