Programs & Services

Primary Care Clinic

The Primary Care Clinic at the NECHC is a collaborative practice of health care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses), mental health staff, other professional staff (dietitian and social worker) and several support staff.

The clinic provides primary care clinical services Monday-Friday 9 to 5 and 4 evening clinics (Monday-Thursday). In addition, we have an on-call system in place so that patients are able to speak to a physician after regular working hours.

Within the Primary Care Clinic, we offer nutrition, prenatal and Hepatitis C services for patients.

Dental Clinic

The Dental Program has been operating at the NECHC since 2009. It provides dental services including dental hygiene to the North End community on a weekly basis. The program mainly operates with the Dentists, Hygienists and students from the Dalhousie Dental Program.

A key factor in the dental program’s creation and success is the significant contribution and ongoing support of Henry Schein who provided much of the dental clinic major equipment, dental supplies and who continues to provide all necessary equipment maintenance and repair.

Social Work Program

We recently had to say goodbye to social worker Paul O-Hara who worked at the centre for more than 34 years. In Jan 2016 we welcomed a new social worker to the NECHC – Megan MacBride.

Megan works with a number of community partners and agencies – including ESIA, Dalhousie Legal Aid, and the Metropolitan Regional Housing Authority. She also works closely with clinical staff at the NECHC (Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Nurses), as well as clinical staff outside of the NECHC (social workers, physicians, nurses, etc. at the VG and QE2). The social work program plays a vital role by supporting the transition from hospital to community for patients of the NECHC.

Health Promotion and Prevention Programs

In September 2015, the NECHC set out to expand the Health Promotion and Prevention programs delivered out of the Johanna B. Oosterveld (JBO) Centre. By June of 2016, six new programs had been launched. We had a couple of Dalhousie University health promotion students over the winter and summer working with staff to develop and expand the health promotion programs at the NECHC. Kitchen Skills – focused on helping people develop their kitchen skills and prepare more healthy and affordable meals. Mindful Monday – was a program developed to help people deal with anxiety and stress. North End Walkers – is a physical activity program that take participants on a 40 minute walk through the North End community which is followed with a healthy lunch at JBO. Craft Night – was a program for young and older people who have an interest in learning hand craft skills and/or want to be part of a group to share skills; Health and Wellness – this program focused on how food choices can help manage different chronic diseases and provided support on other factors that impacted health; Read with Me – is a weekly drop in reading group for parents and preschool aged children. Caregivers are shown and given a chance to practice new reading skills and techniques during book reading to improve reading skills of their children; Let’s Talk Health – this program provided a dynamic informative hour on various health and wellness topics; Tea n’ Talk – is a program for community members looking for a group to share life experiences and stories, and learn health topics on an array of topics.

Mobile Outreach Street Health

Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH) is a program of the NECHC, established in 2007. Designed by community agencies and clients, MOSH provides primary health care to people who are homeless, marginally housed and street involved. This service is mobile and care is delivered where the clients are located – shelters, street, places where food is served, drop ins, and the team accompanies existing outreach services, such as the Mainline Needle Exchange.

The team consists of .5 Team Lead, 2 Nurses, 1 Occupational Therapist, and .5 administrative supports. Along with 12 hours of physician support per week, also have amazing volunteers who accompany clients to appointments and much more. Our average number of encounters with clients per month is over 400; and, we are proud to share this mission with our Housing First and NECHC colleagues.

The “Housing First” Project

Housing First (HF) is an exciting new initiative under the Government of Canada’s Housing Partnering Strategy. The mandate of this program is to accommodate people who have experienced chronic homelessness regardless of their challenges, and to support them to remain housed without a requirement that they first become ‘housing ready’. It is based on the principle that long-term housing creates stability.

The Housing First team consists of 1 Project Lead, 5 intensive case managers (ICMs), a primary health nurse, and services from the NSHA’s Mental Health and Addictions Service.

The continuum of support that ICMs offer clients ranges from help with cooking, community connections, addiction and mental health, coordination of care as it relates to chronic disease and much more.