Province to support Peterborough Street Medicine team with over $1 million a year for three years

This article originally appeared in the Peterborough Examiner on November 8, 2024 and is reprinted here through a creative commons license.

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The province is investing over $1 million per year in Peterborough Street Medicine as part of a strategy to increase care to the unhoused and marginalized population of Peterborough.

Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith announced the funding of $1,030,202 per year for the next three years during a news conference at Brock Mission Friday, alongside Peterborough Street Medicine co-lead Dr. John Beamish and Mayor Jeff Leal.

Smith was adamant the approach improves services to all members of the community by diverting traffic from emergency rooms.

“Every single individual who does not have primary care tends to find themselves in a position where they have more complex problems,” Smith said.

“When we’re talking about the marginalized community, or the homeless community, they tend to have more complex problems and they tend to find themselves in a position where they have to go to the emergency room more often than someone who is healthy.”

The idea is that the funding for the project will help provide basic levels of care to individuals and their families who may otherwise seek care in emergency rooms.

“All have a right to health care. Some are not more worthy than others and delivery must fit the population,” Beamish said. “The emergency room is not designed to provide primary care, yet for the marginalized, it has been their only option.”

Additionally, the street medicine team is an attractive option for physicians and family doctors considering the move to Peterborough who wish to diversify their practice while continuing to focus on family medicine, Beamish said.

“The goal is never to replace or have someone leave their family practice and do this work,” he said in an interview after the announcement. “It’s to make this part of their practice — so I think we will recruit more physicians who want to do this.”

The physician-led group received approval earlier this year and operates under a Homeless Shelter Alternate Funding Plan with the province, which allows them to support the homeless population in the Peterborough region by operating out of drop-in centres, community centres, and addiction and mental health facilities, a press release from the event notes.

Peterborough Street Medicine currently operates across the city in sites including the Brock Mission, Cameron House, and the YES Shelter for Youth and Families.

Ten physicians devote part-time hours to the team. According to Beamish, they provide services to a population of approximately 1,000 people in the region and attend to 50 patients per week.

He is hopeful the funding will entice other doctors to consider it moving forward.

“I think as we work out the kinks and it becomes a little smoother flowing, it’s more attractive to people,” Beamish said. “I think there’s a number of physicians who are intrigued, but sitting on the sidelines till we smooth out the road a bit.”

The recruitment of more physicians will provide for wider delivery of services and allow the team to consider expanding where those services are offered, Beamish added.

“We hope in three years it looks different than it looks now — believe me, it looks different now than it did six months ago,” he said. “We very much are flexible and evolving to where to need is.”