The McGill-Bonneau clinic founded in 2017, was really made possible by the vision of Francoise Fillion. As a community health nurse, her dedication for population’s health and hope to improve the quality of life of underserved and marginalized communities, made the creation of a community-service nurse-led clinic a natural embodiment of her passion.
In the fall 2016, she met with Dr. Gagnon, the school director, to see if she was interested to visit SABSA, the only nurse practitioner led clinic in the province of Quebec, situated in Quebec City. She agreed and with three of the school nurse practitioner’s students in primary care accompanying them, they were very impressed and loved the impact it was making on the community. The idea of a McGill nurse-led clinic was thus in the work. For feasibility purposes, the project became a nurse-led clinic instead, with a strong collaboration with physicians to complete patient’s care.
In January 2017, Hugo Marchand and I got the official mandate from our director, to start planning for that nurse-led clinic. After making a few enquiries, an ideal location was found within the Accueil Bonneau. An agreement was developed between both parties and 8 months later, on September 2017, the McGill-Bonneau clinic opened. After a first year with a faculty member, Laurin Vroom, being the nurse at the clinic, a nurse clinician dedicated to the clinic, Gisele Poirier, was hired. The clinic is now open 2 days per week all year long, receiving 6 nursing students in the fall, 6 in the winter and 6 in the summer semesters for a total of 18 nursing students per year that are doing their community health nursing practicum, and during the months of July and August, the clinic welcomes our nursing faculty for continuing education. In over two years now, we have now over 1000 visits, 126 regular patients and the clinic is very well established at the shelter. We see them at the shelter, either at the clinic or in their apartment owned by Accueil Bonneau.
In general, over 95% of care is resolved by the clinic. All the patients have a history of homelessness and would not have seek health care easily because of prejudice or stereotypes they often face in our health care system.
The clinic works in partnership with a nearby medical clinic and the patients are referred back to us after seeing physicians. There is also have a very nice collaboration with a similar podiatrist’s student clinic at the shelter.
Throughout this innovative endeavor, we always have the strong support of our Director and of the Dean of medicine. The clinic was also the recipient of the national ‘’Prix Innovation Clinique’’ in 2019 from the Quebec Order of Nurse (OIIQ) and continuing education workshops on how to enact innovation projects are planned.
Future plans involve trying to get our Nurse Practitioner students to get involved as well in the clinic and hopefully repeat this innovative project with other populations.
I was also able, with another colleague Jodi Tuck, to get funding to start the Ashukin program, Ashukin means bridge in Naskapi and Atikamekw language. A part of the funding is dedicated to the course I teach called Community Health Nursing Project, where the students can work in partnership with Indigenous communities to listen, to be very humble, and create a primary prevention project tailored to their wishes. We have Indigenous community organization partners in Montreal, Kanawake, Kanasetake, Wemotaci and Kawawachikamach.
To conclude, dreams can come through, you need patience but also to seek the opportunities that present to you. When the planets are aligned, you go for it.