The Boyle McCauley Health Centre has been serving the population of the inner city since 1979 and is constantly evolving.The Boyle McCauley Health Centre, the first community based health centre in Alberta, was incorporated in 1979 and opened its doors to the public in May of 1980. The centre was designed to respond to the often overlooked and unique health needs of the resident s of Edmonton’s inner city. In 1979, a group of Medical Mission Sisters took up the challenge to organize a community health centre. From the beginning, the concept had many supporters including Dr. James Howell, community residents, inner city agencies, various city and provincial departments as well as hundreds of volunteers from both immediate and outlying areas. Their dedication to the realization of the centre is reflected in the services provided to our clients.
We owe a great deal of thanks to the forward thinking individuals who worked together to ensure that health care would be provided in their under-serviced communities of Boyle Street, McCauley, and Norwood, and provided in a way that acknowledged the uniqueness and complexity of Edmonton’s inner city. More than thirty eight years later that vision still guides us as we adapt and expand services to reflect the changing needs of our community.
Many innovative aspects of the “community health centre” model, such as the use of Nurse Practitioners (NP), alternative payment plans for physicians, and the use of interdisciplinary teams are now seen as mainstream in the delivery of primary care. The original goal of offering accessible, comprehensive, culturally sensitive primary care, provided by people who are willing to look at the whole person and include that person in decisions about their health care, remains relevant both for BMHC and for health care services in general. We have been very fortunate over the years to have our vision supported through a strong and vital partnership with the Primary Care Division of Alberta Health Services.
