Today, TELUS announced the expansion of its innovative mobile
Health for Good clinic program with its community health partner,
Kílala Lelum Health Centre. Enabled by technology and fueled with
human compassion, the Kílala Lelum Mobile Health Clinic, powered by
TELUS Health, is a specially-equipped clinic on wheels that will
provide trauma-informed, culturally-sensitive primary medical
treatments, Indigenous Elder-led cultural care, mental health
services, and addiction support directly to the underserved
citizens of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“At TELUS, we believe that everyone should have
access to healthcare when and where they need it, regardless of
their socio-economic status. Through our partnership with Kílala
Lelum, we are removing many of the barriers facing underserved
populations by providing Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of
the Downtown Eastside and surrounding areas with access to critical
healthcare and social support,” said Darren Entwistle, President
and CEO, TELUS. “As we continue to navigate the global pandemic,
today’s expansion of our Health for Good program will enable us to
care for our citizens at a time when access to high-quality,
compassionate healthcare, including vital support for mental
wellness, has never been more important.”
“Many people living in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside experience significant barriers to accessing effective
primary health care,” said Dr. David Tu, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Physician
and Board member of Kílala Lelum. “These barriers stem from
poverty, homelessness, and experiences of exclusion and racism.
Simultaneously, these same people often have the greatest
healthcare needs and typically only present to care when there is
an extreme health crisis. Through partnership and support from
TELUS, we hope that this well-equipped and expertly staffed mobile
health clinic will be able to meaningfully connect with people to
provide timely, culturally safe and trauma informed care that can
prevent health crisis from ever happening, and promote greater
health, wellness, and social stability.”
Approximately 2,223 citizens experience
homelessness in the city of Vancouver on any given night, and
Indigenous peoples represent a disproportionate 39 per cent of the
homeless population. The ongoing overdose crisis in Vancouver has
been further magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by
facilitating better continuity of care, the program will help those
who cannot easily access traditional medical care yet are in urgent
need of support and resources.
Backed by a $10 million commitment from TELUS,
Health for Good is already active from coast-to-coast with clinics
operating in Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, Calgary, Edmonton,
Ottawa, Mississauga-Peel Region, Waterloo Region, Montreal, Halifax
and Toronto. These state-of-the-art mobile health clinics operate
in communities where frontline care is urgently needed and act as a
vital link between the community and local health authority.
Through a combination of drop-in primary care and individually
targeted follow up visits, the mobile outreach team builds rapport
and enables a continuity of care for people who have been
underserved by the traditional clinical care model. In 2020,
several mobile health clinics supported COVID-19 response efforts,
operating as assessment and testing centres and offering support to
people leaving isolation and recovering from COVID-19. Since the
program’s inception in 2014, TELUS Health Mobile Clinics have
supported over 50,000 patient visits.
All mobile health clinics are equipped with TELUS
Health electronic medical records (EMR) technology and TELUS LTE
Wi-Fi service, enabling skilled practitioners to collect and store
health data, examine results over time, and provide better
continuity of care to patients who may have undocumented medical
histories. The medical clinic is divided into two main areas: one
for patient reception and mental health care, and a second private,
but more spacious area with an examination table and a
physician/nursing workstation. This design helps to improve patient
privacy and allows the team to treat patients with the dignity and
respect they deserve.
For more information about TELUS Health for Good,
visit telus.com/healthforgood.
About TELUS Health for GoodSince
2014, TELUS Health for Good has been helping to remove many of the
barriers Canadians living on the streets face in receiving medical
care and reconnecting thousands of patients to the public
healthcare system. Mobile Health Clinics, powered by TELUS, were
originally inspired by the work being done by Doctors of The World.
The Mobile Health Clinics provide essential primary medical care,
including electronic medical records, generating over 50,000
patient visits since the program’s inception. Today, through
numerous partnerships, volunteers, and the power of technology,
TELUS Health for Good is an efficient and innovative mobile
healthcare delivery tool to reach communities in need by bringing
healthcare directly to the people that need it most.
About TELUS TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE:
TU) is a dynamic, world-leading communications and information
technology company with $15 billion in annual revenue and 15.4
million customer connections spanning wireless, data, IP, voice,
television, entertainment, video and security. At TELUS, we
leverage our world-leading technology’s potential to enable
remarkable human outcomes. Our long-standing commitment to putting
customers first fuels every aspect of our business, making us a
distinct leader in customer service excellence and loyalty. TELUS
Health is Canada’s largest healthcare IT provider, and TELUS
International delivers the most innovative business process
solutions to some of the world’s most established brands.
Driven by our passionate social purpose to connect
all Canadians for good, our deeply meaningful and enduring
philosophy to give where we live has inspired our team members and
retirees to contribute $736 million and 1.4 million days of service
since 2000. This unprecedented generosity and unparalleled
volunteerism have made TELUS the most giving company in the
world.
For more information about TELUS, please visit
telus.com, follow us @TELUSNews on Twitter and @Darren_Entwistle on
Instagram.
About Kilala LelumKílala Lelum is
a non-profit Indigenous Health organization that has been operating
in Vancouver’s inner city since 2018. The Kílala Lelum Health
Centre offers an inter-professional team based primary care home
and is composed of family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses,
counselors, social workers, outreach works, nutritionists, peer
community health workers, Indigenous Elders and Indigenous Cultural
Workers. The mandate of Kílala Lelum is to provide culturally safe
and effective care to patients of all nations. Specifically, the
centre has the mandate to enact the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission Calls to Action in Health (Health Actions 19-23) and to
specifically recognize, respect, and address the distinct health
needs of the Métis, Inuit, First Nations, and off-reserve
Indigenous peoples. For more information visit,
https://kilalalelum.ca/.
For media inquiries, please
contact:
Lena ChenTELUS Public
Relationslena.chen@telus.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/90371616-54d3-418d-be11-57eb6c887bef
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