The BC Rural Health Network Member of the Month for August 2023 is The BC Association of Community Health Centres
| The team at the BC Association of Community Health Centres (BCACHC) is excited to be profiled as the BC Rural Health Network’s ‘Member of the Month’ for August!! Here is a bit about who we are, and what we do to support BC communities to provide health and wellness services for their citizens. BCACHC has been a non-profit society since 2017 when a group of Community Health Centre (CHC) executives got together to start a movement supporting the development of more CHCs in communities across the province. At that time, there were approximately 10 CHCs in operation.  Since then, our membership has grown to include 31 operational CHCs, 10 CHCs about to open their doors, and another 12 communities planning CHCs as ‘emerging’ members of our association. We have a strategic plan, a website that houses our advocacy stories and resources for community use, and profiles of some of our CHC members. We publish a quarterly Newsletter, also available on our website, detailing work underway to support the CHC movement in the province. Some of our current priorities include: Developing a sustainable CHC funding model – working with government Participating in a national research study looking at the outcomes of Team-Based Care Participating in research to identify a community engagement model to support communities with the development of their own CHC plan Developing multiple services for our member CHCs and emerging communities such as a job posting board on our website, a new pathway for CHC development and approval and an outreach strategy working with partners like the BC Rural Health Network and the BC Health Coalition.  So what is a CHC you may be asking? It’s a health centre created by the community to focus on the delivery of primary care and a variety of wellness services that support the social determinants of health such as food security, mental health, housing and any number of other services supporting the well-being of the ‘whole person’. CHCs are usually non-profit or cooperative societies that are governed by a community-oriented Board of Directors. Services provided by a CHC are those that are needed by the community and can often focus on the most vulnerable members of a community, ensuring equitable access to healthcare and wellness services. CHCs provide longitudinal primary care and provide patients with access to physicians and nurse practitioners along with a multidisciplinary team specializing in social work, counselling, occupational therapy, outreach, seniors’ care, and much more! The team at a CHC is made up of a variety of healthcare practitioners who work together with their patients in the centre, providing the services needed to support each patient as an individual. Take a look at this video that has practitioners talking about team-based care at one of our CHCs!  We are excited about what the future brings and would love to hear from any community group interested in learning more about the CHC health and wellness model. Check out our website and resources by visiting www.bcachc.org. We would be pleased to chat with you to share the ways in which a Community Health Centre could meet the needs of your community and how the team at BCACHC can support your journey in developing a CHC. Visit all our recent Members of the Month here… |
