“I have never met such wonderful people in my whole life.”

Pamela Contini is a patient at the North Clinic in the Toronto Central area, a small nursing clinic run by Ontario Health atHome (formerly Home and Community Care Support Services) with nursing services provided by VHA Home HealthCare (VHA).

Pamela has been receiving care at the North Clinic since April 2024. She was referred to the clinic after a visit to a hospital emergency department for a leg infection. A former nurse, Pamela initially tried to care for the wound herself, but found she needed additional support. “The nurses at the North Clinic have had a big impact on my healing journey,” Pamela said.

Pamela recently joined Ontario Health atHome and VHA at the new clinic location at 30 Soudan Avenue, in the Yonge and Eglinton area in Toronto’s north end, to celebrate the opening of the new clinic space.

“I love this new space, and I have never met such wonderful people in my whole life. The clinic staff are amazing and the nurses are exceptional,” Pamela shared at the small launch event.

The new North Clinic was purpose built with patients like Pamela in mind to provide care, education and coaching for wound care, intravenous therapy, catheter, diabetes, ostomy care and many other services. As a retired nurse, Pamela knows what it means to provide patient-centred care. Through the new North Clinic she’s discovered firsthand what that means in a clinic setting. “The old clinic was fine,” says Pamela, “but this new one is home.”

Pamela was joined by Sylvia Mingo, Interim Vice President, Patient Services at Ontario Health atHome who said, “This is an incredible milestone to support the patients we serve in north Toronto to deliver high-quality patient-centred care right here in the community. Ontario Health atHome applies a ‘clinic-first’ approach to all nursing clinics across Ontario and this remarkable new space will ensure that patients continue to receive the right care in the right place while making the most effective use of health system resources. My thanks to all the teams involved in creating this beautiful space and for your continued work to meet the needs of the patients we serve together.”

Dr. Kathryn Nichol, VHA’s President and CEO also spoke at the gathering. “In 1969, VHA received a donation of office space from a grateful and generous client. That donation has made it possible for VHA to have central and easily accessible office space for our growing team ever since. This new North Clinic location is the first time we have been able to provide client-facing care in the same space as our head office, and that is truly something to celebrate. Thank you to everyone involved and to Ontario Health atHome for the collaborative and supportive partnership that has made this possible.”

The North Clinic is by appointment only through referrals from Ontario Health atHome. For more information on receiving care at the North Clinic, please call: 416-506-9888

Facts:
The North Clinic is a collaboration between Ontario Health atHome, formerly Home and Community Care Support Services, the government agency funded to provide home and community care, including nursing clinics and placement services, and VHA Home HealthCare, one of Ontario’s largest not-for-profit providers of home care, which provides the nursing care and day-to-day management of the clinic.

Each year, Ontario Health atHome administers more than 1.2 million patient visits in over 140 nursing clinics across Ontario. All clinics are by appointment only, in accessible locations and many have extended operating hours. Community nursing clinics provide publicly-funded, patient-centred, high-quality, specialized nursing care.

Contact:
Tracey Turriff, Director of Communications, VHA Home HealthCare, 416-565-8483, tturriff@vha.ca