No flu assessment clinic for east end

Central Ottawa is getting three centres while the west end is receiving two and the south has one clinic, according to a press release issued by the city today. None are slated for the east end.

News of the clinic locations prompted both Cumberland Coun. Rob Jellett and Orléans Coun. Bob Monette to question why the east appears to have been overlooked.

“This is not acceptable, we have a population of 100,000 and why can we not have at least one assessment clinic in our community?” Monette asked of the city’s chief medical officer Dr. Isra Levy in an e-mail copied to local media.

“As far as that goes we are also under-serviced with roving clinics,” he continued. “The east will not stand by and allow sub par service to our community.”

The e-mail comes less than a week after Monette expressed frustration over the way the H1N1 vaccine clinics have been managed.

On Friday, Oct. 30 the councillor discovered residents left standing outside the Orléans clinic when the client service centre boasts a number of unused rooms.

“People shouldn’t be waiting outside,” Monette said on Friday. “I don’t want residents stuck outside, especially babies.”

In his e-mail to Levy today, the councillor touched on the problems residents face when trying to get their pandemic vaccine, noting people are still required to wait outside. He suggested they should be lined up inside the Shenkman Arts Centre, which is adjacent to the vaccine site at 255 Centrum Boulevard.

“Why are Orléans residents not being respected?” he asked in the e-mail. “All that this would entail is for them to be inside. They could enter and get their wristbands right from where the building attaches.”

He reminded Public Health this situation will likely continue into the winter months, so it’s time to get it right.

Meanwhile, the six flu assessment centres in other parts of the city will open on Wednesday to help respond to increasing flu activity in the community. The clinics are intended to lessen the burden on local hospital emergency departments.

The city notes most cases of the flu, which can last for several days and make people feel very sick, can be treated at home. However, people whose symptoms worsen quickly, as well as people at risk of severe complications from the flu, should see a family physician or flu assessment centre.

Residents who have a family physician or primary care provider are asked to seek medical attention from their existing provider first. Residents who do not have a family physician or who cannot access their usual care provider within 48 hours have the option of going to a flu assessment centre.

For more information on preventing and treating the flu, visit ottawa.ca/health or contact the Ottawa Public Health Information Line at 613-580-6744.