on a recent evening, after finishing her day job as a family doctor and gp-oncologist at the ottawa hospital, dr. anna wilkinson headed to the giant amazon warehouse outside the city to talk to employees on their breaks about cancer screening.
she and other staff from the champlain screening outreach program stayed until midnight, handing out cards with information about ontario cancer screening programs, letting workers know who qualified, why screening was important and how to make appointments.
staff from the program, including nurse-practitioner sarah junkin-hepworth, its super-screener, held similar information sessions during two other shifts at the warehouse, where 800 employees, many of them newcomers or recent immigrants, worked during each of three shifts.
they were there because a company official, worried that many employees were without family doctors and were missing routine screening, had made the request. it is just one such effort the team makes to reach out to eastern ontario residents who may be at high risk of missing screening and potentially having undiagnosed cancers. this week the program has partnered with ottawa public health’s
sexual health clinic, which is holding a cervical cancer screening “pap-apalooza” event. the screening outreach team also works with community and health organizations across eastern ontario, community wellness hubs and numerous groups, including renfrew county’s virtual triage and assessment centre, a 24-hour virtual health service aimed at reducing the numbers of people waiting in emergency departments.
amazon warehouse in the east end of ottawa.
tony caldwell
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postmedia