Residents of Northwest Winnipeg to Have Easier Access to Health and Social Services: Premier

July 29, 2010

Keewatin and Vurrows Location of New ACCESS Nor’West

The province is investing $4.2 million in a new one-stop health- and social-services centre called ACCESS Nor’West to be located near the corner of Keewatin Street and Burrows Avenue, Premier Greg Selinger announced today.“This new centre will help people connect to the range of health, social and community services and supports they can use to improve their quality of life,” said Selinger. “Integrating and co-locating a wide range of services that are tailored to the specific needs of the community will be particularly beneficial for people with complex, multiple needs.”

Along with primary care or medical services, some of the special programs that will be located at ACCESS Nor’West will be:
· diabetes education and support,
· nutrition counselling,
· vocational rehabilitation,
· foot care,
· community development,
· family violence counselling,
· Aboriginal health outreach,
· day-care co-ordination, and
· immigrant women’s counselling.

“Combining this variety of services ensures a holistic approach to the overall health and wellness of individuals,” said Winnipeg Regional Health Authority president and CEO Arlene Wilgosh. “When individuals have better overall health themselves it leads to a healthier community in general and that’s certainly what we’re trying to achieve.”

Plans for ACCESS Nor’west have been developed through a partnership between Manitoba Health, Manitoba Family Services and Consumer Affairs, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) and the Nor’ West Co-op Community Health Centre.

“We know that access to resources has an impact on the health of individuals and families, so we’re thrilled to see this project continuing to move forward,” said Ivan Sabesky, chair of the Nor’West Co-op Community Health Centre board. “We see ACCESS Nor’West bringing us closer to the realization of our goal of creating safer and healthier neighbourhoods for the children and families in our community.”

Access centres focus on innovative ways to deliver accessible and effective health and social services, the premier said. This will be the fourth ACCESS centre in Winnipeg. ACCESS River East opened in 2004 and ACCESS Transcona opened in 2007. ACCESS Downtown was recently opened and plans for ACCESS St. James are currently in development. Construction on ACCESS Nor’West at Keewatin and Burrows is anticipated to begin by the end of 2010 with completion expected by the end of 2011.

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