May 13, 2014
Province Announces ACCESS Winnipeg West Now Open to Serve Community with New Clinic, Services for Families
– – –New Centre to Integrate Health, Social Services; One of Many New Projects to Improve Acces to Care in West Winnipeg: Minister Selby
The new ACCESS Winnipeg West at the Grace Hospital is ready to provide better access to care and services for Manitobans including a new clinic and child-care centre, Health Minister Erin Selby announced today.
“ACCESS Centres are one-stop shops for families and help provide more co-ordinated, accessible services,” said Minister Selby. “Along with this ACCESS Centre, we are making many other investments built around the needs of families and seniors living in west Winnipeg including a new emergency department and MRI at the Grace Hospital, and a QuickCare clinic to provide an alternative to emergency care.”
ACCESS Winnipeg West includes a new primary care clinic and it is currently connecting hundreds of new patients with a family provider, the minister said. In addition to physicians, nurse practitioners and primary care nurses, other services available will include counseling, psychology, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy and psychiatry along with lab and dietary services. Both physicians and nurse practitioners are now taking on new patients at the clinic, she added.
The ACCESS Centre also includes new early learning and child-care services and programs including a new 8,400-sq.-ft. child-care centre with 80 spaces scheduled to open in the coming months. Other programs and services to be offered at ACCESS Winnipeg West include:
- public health services,
- mental health services including a new PACT team,
- occupational therapy and physiotherapy,
- child and adult speech language pathology program,
- audiology,
- employment and income assistance services,
- employment supports for persons with disabilities and MarketAbilities program,
- children’s and community living disability services,
- child and family services,
- seniors health resources, and
- home care services.
The Manitoba government invested more than $10 million in capital construction to develop the new centre, with additional funding for staffing and operations, Minister Selby said, adding the centre is designed to support seniors and people with disabilities by accommodating wheelchairs and scooters.
“Placing a number of health services side-by-side and incorporating family services and other important social supports empowers our patients,” said Arlene Wilgosh, president and chief executive officer, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. “Being able to take ownership of your health and well-being is important to Manitobans and we look forward to creating more such partnerships, which provide quick and easy access to basic care.”
The minister noted the new ACCESS Centre is another step forward in building a more robust, co-ordinated and inclusive primary care system for Manitobans, andwill support the province’s commitment to ensure any Manitoban who wants one has access to a family doctor. ACCESS Winnipeg West will also be working with other community organizations and family physicians in the area.
There are currently four other ACCESS Centres in Winnipeg including ACCESS River East, ACCESS Transcona, ACCESS NorWest and ACCESS Downtown, with more in development for St. Boniface and south Winnipeg.
For more information on the role of ACCESS Centres and primary care in Manitoba, visit www.gov.mb.ca/health/primarycare/access.html.
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