Homeless people in downtown Edmonton will get better access to medical help when the Hope Mission opens its new health centre Thursday.
The agency recently renovated space on its main floor to provide exam rooms for two doctors to see patients in the mornings twice a week.
That will make it much more convenient for clients who use the mission’s shelter and soup kitchen to see a doctor.
“They don’t necessarily have to go out of their way to seek these services but they’re right there,” said Hope Mission’s Robin Padanyi.
Alberta Health Services is paying for the two doctors and a psychiatrist to work in the centre.
The centre will operate similar to a medi-centre and may take some pressure off hospital emergency rooms, he said.
The cold weather brings about 1,000 homeless people each day to the Hope Mission at 99th Street and 106th Avenue for meals or to sleep, Padanyi said.
“They’re struggling through a number of different compounding factors that contribute to their homelessness.”
“It was a way for us in partnership with the province of Alberta to be able to address those underlying factors that might help them be in a more stable situation to find permanent housing.”
