Dec
10
Victoria Health Co-op Centre
Victoria Health Co-op Update Meeting on Wednesday November 18
By Vanessa Hammond
We invited Co-op members, patients at the Co-op Health Centre and others in the area so that we could answer questions about our letter of October 18to Victoria Health Co-op Members. Approximately 35 people attended. Most were members of the Co-op, some were both members and patients, some were patients but not members.
We reviewed the development of the Victoria Health Co-op:
2000 onwards, community interest in health as a sector for co-op development.
2008
Victoria Health Co-op (VHC) was founded to provide services to members, community outreach and other health education and services.
2008 – 2010
The VHC provided services to members (Monthly Members’ Wellness Clinics and the Health Access Fund, both still a major benefit of membership) and community outreach through Back To Basics at Central Middle School and Choices at BC housing locations, Saanich Public Library, Our Place, etc. Some grants were obtained to cover costs such as snacks for participants. The leadership was entirely by volunteers. The opportunity to contribute time and energy to these programs is a major benefit of membership. We accumulated a small financial reserve.
2010
The James Bay Community Project (JBCP) was told that there would be changes in the funding for its Clinic and decided they would have to close it. This put medical services for about 5,000 people at risk. The Co-op was approached about renting the space and establishing a Co-op Health Centre. A feasibility study determined that, based on the estimates of costs and revenue we were given, an Integrative Health Centre would be viable. The costs were to include rent, salaries for the Medical Office Assistants, medical supplies, phones, electronic medical records, etc – all the overhead of running a health centre. The revenue would, as in any group practice, be a portion of the payment received by the doctors from the Medical Services Plan. It was also agreed that community updates would be held regularly and that all who joined the practice as doctors, staff or patients would be given a co-op orientation.
At a Special General Meeting the members directed the Board to establish the Co-op Health Centre to ensure that medical services would be retained for the patients of the JBCP’s clinic, many frail and elderly. We noted that, because of the Canada Health Act, we could not require patients to join the Co-op. A negotiating team was established to bring recommendations to the Board.
Unfortunately decisions were made outside the Board context that resulted in an ongoing lack of understanding by doctors, patients and the community. We began operating the Co-op Health Centre on September 1, 2010 after our volunteer members repainted and decorated the entire area. One Community Update meeting was held and much appreciated.
2011 to 2015
Due to the unfortunate decisions, the revenue received by the Co-op Health Centre has consistently failed to cover the costs. Co-op Board members negotiated grants, obtained loans from members and financial institutions, which subsidized the Health Centre. We noted that the Lifelong Membership Share cost of $50 was originally linked to an annual fee of $20 but that the cost of collecting this exceeded the amount collected. We are grateful to the members who have continued to contribute regularly.
We reviewed where we stand now.
We have reached a turning point for the Co-op Health Centre. The CHC is welcoming for patients and described as “a great place to work.” Negotiations are underway with a very tight timeline with the doctors to finally cover the on-going costs and repay the debt. Progress is also being made towards resuming regular update meetings with members and patients.
Despite the challenges at the Health Centre, the Monthly Member Wellness Clinics and Health Access Fund continue and the Co-op is the lead in bringing the outstanding Hans Kai program to British Columbia, holding the Co-op Wellness Fair, and being active in the Health Care Co-op Federation of Canada.
The Board continues to work on ways of generating contracts that would earn fees for service rather than being entirely on a volunteer basis, and to seek grants.
We are sending an electronic report to all members including some suggestions of how they can support the Victoria Health Co-op and our Co-op Health Centre. To receive an email or print copy of this report, please contact vichealthcoop@gmail.com call 250 415 9272 or pick up a copy beside the membership applications on the left in the hallway into the Co-op Health Centre.
Thank you for your care for the Victoria Health Co-op and our services to our members, community and the patients at the Co-op Health Centre.