WELLINGTON COUNTY – Stonehenge Therapeutic Community has launched a new Mobile Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinic.
RAAM provides addiction services to people of all ages using any substance, and is being implemented in consultation with the Rural Family Health Teams.
The clinic is funded by Ontario Health, through the government’s recent investment to expand access to critical services in the addiction and mental health system. Services will be delivered in partnership with the Waterloo Region Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and House of Friendship.
The RAAM Clinic will give rural residents in five communities in Wellington County better access to addiction health services, beginning on May 25.
The mobile clinic, a customized Sprinter van, will serve patients in Erin, Rockwood, Arthur, Mount Forest and Palmerston.
The clinic will provide medical addiction services that patients would previously have had to travel up to one hour to access.
“We know from population health feedback, including consultations with the family health teams and community outreach services, that there are individuals living in these communities needing low-barrier access to addictions medicine,” said Madison Cruickshank, clinical manager of community services at Stonehenge Therapeutic Community.
“With this clinic we will be able to meet people where they are at by providing them with access to addiction medicine services, counseling, and harm reduction services close to home.”
The need for this service has only increased as a result of the pandemic:
– Ontario has seen 2,426 opioid-related deaths during the pandemic, a 60 per cent increase over 2019;
– Ontarians reported a 38% increase in substance use since the pandemic began;
– existing Stonehenge services in Rural Wellington have experienced a 67% increase in client volume since March 2020; and
– between 2011 and 2018, Wellington County has seen an overall increase of 12% in prescription pain pill use by youth.
The mobile clinic will travel to the five different communities, visiting each community once each week to provide care at a central location.
Cruickshank said the clinic will have capacity to make house calls where required, such as to rural addresses where residents are unable to travel to central areas of rural communities.
The van has two separate areas, an exam room and a counselling office, divided by a sound barrier to protect confidentiality. The van will be staffed by an addiction counsellor and nurse practitioner for rapid access to addiction supports.
“We know that substance use has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, and people in rural communities typically have less access to needed supports,” said Cruickshank.
“With this clinic we have an opportunity to improve health equity by providing rural residents in Wellington County with similar access to specialized health care services for substance use.”
The van is designed to be as low-barrier as possible, and will eventually accommodate walk-ins.
For the time being, due to COVID-19 restrictions, patients are required to make an appointment, but they do not require a doctor’s referral. To learn more or access services, visit raamww.ca or call 1-844-722-2977.
