Health clinic on wheels filling need for COVID-19, STI testing in northern Sask.
The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) is hoping to fill a need in northern Saskatchewan with a health clinic on wheels.
The PAGC plans to use a renovated van at pop-up clinics for COVID-19 vaccines and testing. The long-term goal is to slow the spread of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), such as syphilis, HIV and Hepatitis C.
“What started it was actually the increase in syphilis in the province, and we wanted to have an easier way for people in our communities to receive information and testing,” said Shirley Woods, PAGC director of health and social development.
The van, called Wellness on Wheels, features artwork from members of PAGC communities. With the eye-catching visuals, Woods said she hopes the van will help people feel more comfortable learning about STIs and getting tested for them.
“Access to care can be challenging for many people, even if they don’t have the isolation factor,” Woods said, referring to Indigenous communities.
“To bring it to them will just mean that more people will be able to be tested,” she added. “A lot of times you don’t have a lot of symptoms, you wouldn’t know.”
Paved to Pines, a Prince Albert van and school bus conversion company, flipped the van into a mobile health unit.
Steven Glass said he and his business partner, Mitchell Rosko, have long wanted to contribute to better access to health care.
“We had seen, probably early last year, some of the budget cuts to safe injection sites around Saskatoon and that’s kind of what got us thinking about the need for these mobile health units,” Glass said.
He said the van, an electric vehicle, has multiple options for charging – ideal for when health care workers have to hit the road and stay for more than one day.
“These units are pretty intense. As much as it’s serving those health needs, that’s more just the storage and functionality of it. On the back end, this is a four-season, completely off-grid unit.”
The front of the van contains a staff space with a curtain. The rear has an exam table, a fridge for samples, a sink and storage.
Glass and Rosko appeared on CBC’s Dragon’s Den last year.
Aside from creating custom electric vehicles for camping and travelling, Glass said the pair hopes to show how the vehicles can contribute to more than recreation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.