In November 2012, Stephen Lewis provided an inspiring talk in Saskatoon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both Medicare and Saskatchewan’s Community Health Centres. The event, hosted by Saskatoon Community Clinic, shed light upon Mr. Lewis’s profound connection to the birth of Medicare and Saskatchewan’s CHCs. 

Mr. Lewis calls on Canadians to preserve, enhance and expand Medicare as Canada’s most defining and necessary accomplishment, and situates Canada’s vision for health and health care within the context of our moral obligations as members of the global community. This is an historical presentation that you don’t want to miss!

A Medicare@50 blog post by:
Scott A. Wolfe
Federal Coordinator – Canadian Association of Community Health Centres

My first introduction to Community Health Centres (CHCs) came roughly 15 years ago.  However, my personal journey with CHCs, in earnest, dates back a decade. In 2004, not fully-aware of what I was embarking upon, I accepted a role with the burgeoning Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC), Canada’s single-largest provincial CHCs association.

Having recently returned to Canada from work in the international health and development field with a couple of larger international agencies, the opportunity to contribute on the home front was one that had great appeal. Nonetheless, I was admittedly unclear about what exactly these Community Health Centres were and how they might connect to the particular experiences that I had amassed in the international arena.

I suppose that, much like the majority of Canadians who work in health care or social services (but not in direct contact with CHCs), I had a vague sense that these so-called CHCs were community resource hubs…

The Hans Kai program at NorWest Cooperative Community Health Centre in Winnipeg supports individuals to achieve health and wellness through group learning and peer support. Learn more via this short video. You can connect directly with NorWest Coop CHC via their website and on Twitter at @NorWestCoop.