Community Health Centres

What is a community health centre?

Community Health Centres (CHCs) have been in existence in Canada since the 1920s; today there are over 300 CHCs in Canada, most of them in Ontario and Quebec.

The Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centre Associations (CACHCA), of which REACH is a member, defines CHCs as having the following characteristics:

The CHC is a non-profit organization governed by an elected board of directors, which has, as a majority of members, either residents of a defined area or its clients.

The CHC services an identifiable local community where persons have a sense of belonging. It may be defined by a geographic area (i.e., less than 80,000 persons) or a group(s) of persons who are experiencing barriers in accessing services. The CHC provides outreach services that are accessible to citizens in its community.

The CHC is the first point of contact and principally offers a range of primary health, social, rehabilitation. and other non-institutional services where the accent is on prevention, health promotion, health education, and community development services provided in the community. It works in partnership with organizations in other sectors, such as education, justice, recreation, and economic development, in developing a healthy local community.

• The CHC provides services using interdisciplinary teams.
• The CHC remunerates staff by salary and/or capitation.

As you can see, CHCs are much more than just a doctor's or dentist’s office. Indeed, advocates of this model argue that CHCs are the solution to primary health care reform. For more information about CHCs, visit the links below.

• Canadian Alliance of Community Health Centre Associations
• Association of Ontario Health Centres

 

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