Update: February 2022 

The Wellness Centre was launched in September 2020 with the goal of providing crucial services to the 2SLGBTQ population of Edmonton, and the wider community of northern central Alberta, With a humble mix of grant funding, community support, and donations, our nonprofit was able to provide integrated and needed health services to community such as transition support, coordination of surgical referrals and pre and post-op care. We also were able to provide focused care around endocrinology, gynecology, fertility and speech therapy. We responded to the COVID-19 crisis by offering our group and individual psychotherapy services virtually and in person (when safe to do so). 

 

The challenges that many community organisations and nonprofits are facing are also being felt at the Wellness Centre. The needs of our community continues, regardless of funding sources, a global pandemic or an uprising of hate and discrimination. We have seen increased levels of stress and struggle for many folks, including those within the healthcare field. While our intent is to meet our clients’ needs and be a pillar of affirmation medical care within our own community, we must recognize when the demand for our services exceed our capacity. Medical staff and doctors are stretched thin across the province, managing an ever changing landscape, medically, politically and socially. With the additional challenges of providing services in-person and/or virtually at a moment's notice due to fluctuating regulation changes, the Wellness Centre  is making some changes to how we operate to ensure the best quality service and care for the patients of the Centre and our community.

 

We support our physicians who are choosing to consolidate or transition their practices to their home offices or institutions, where they can continue to offer affirming medical care to our patients. We will be contacting and notifying individuals who have already been admitted at the Wellness Centre where to access follow-up care if your provider has moved. The Wellness Centre is committed to providing affirming transgender care regardless of location, and will make every effort to ensure that there are no gaps in care for patients already seen. Our staff are working hard to ensure that people are connected and directed to necessary, life affirming/saving care.

 

We ask for your support in this endeavor by your continued patience as we have a high volume of requests and queries. Over the last 2 years we have seen a large increase of referrals to the Centre. Many of our community members are in need of medical care, crisis support and affirmative spaces. We have seen our waitlist grow and have struggled to meet these needs in our capacity as a non-profit organization. We are putting a hold on referrals at this time and cannot accept new ones at this time. For those who have been referred and are already on the waitlist, we ask for your patience as we work through our current circumstances. 

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We will be using this time of transition to reassess our current services, policy and procedures to ensure we are staying aligned to our goals, values and the needs of our beloved community. We ask for your continued support of the Wellness Centre. 

As queer folks ourselves, we know that when there is uncertainty, some will have the choice to look the other way or decide the struggle is too much to bare. In the wise words of Frederick Douglass “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” We are honoured to be in community with you. Patients, community members, and fellow medical practitioners are encouraged to reach out to our interim Executive Director, Linh Lu (they/them), via email at manager@wellnesscentreab.ca, or through a voice memo at our main line, 587-635-3130.

 

-The Wellness Centre Team