Thorncliffe, Flemingdon Park rally to save health ambassadors as initial funding dries up
A pregnant Attia Mahmood said it didn't take long to learn something was wrong with her health after she arrived in Thorncliffe Park from Pakistan two years ago.
During her first Canadian doctor's visit, she said she was told she was at high risk for developing diabetes, and that she needed medications and a new diet. Without OHIP, she says she had to rely on her father to help pay out of pocket.
The next year, during her next pregnancy, she says a Community Health Ambassador slipped a flyer under her door, directing her to the South Asian diabetes program at the Flemingdon Health Centre.
"I called them and these folks speak my own language (Urdu). It's more comfortable for me to talk to them," she said.
"They are providing free services, they are helping the community very well. They are telling us how much we have to eat, what to eat, whole guidance."
Mahmood says the program has been a game-changer for understanding her own health. But now, community organizations fear it's at risk. Government funding may be drying up, spelling an end to the pandemic-era program.
Funding ending is 'disastrous': community worker
The Community Health Ambassadors program started in Toronto neighbourhoods the Ontario government deemed high priority, because they were dealing with high levels of COVID-19 and lower vaccination rates. These neighbourhoods are predominately lower income and immigrant communities.
Jen Quinlan, CEO of Flemingdon Health Centre, says the ambassadors played a key role in reducing COVID-19 rates in Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park by helping people get vaccinated and combating misinformation.
With initial funding due to run out March 31, Quinlan says she's among multiple east end health professionals and organizations concerned for the program's future.
She says the ambassadors have only become more vital to the neighbourhood's health.
"To have this funding end at this time is really going to be disastrous for the population health of our neighbourhoods," Quinlan said.
"Our neighbourhood is grappling with what that means. At this point, we know that there's such a need in the community that the health system is really under strain."
The health ambassador program has been crucial to helping the centre connect residents with their programming, said Jen Quinlan, CEO of the Flemingdon Health Centre. (Sue Goodspeed/CBC)
Ambassadors' role shifted after pandemic's peak
Health ambassadors are people who live in the communities they work in, said Quinlan. They connect with local residents by going door-to-door, attending events and reaching out on WhatsApp or through handing out flyers.
Eshrat Meshkat and Hafsa Fatima are two of the community's ambassadors.
Outside the Sunny Foodmart in Flemingdon, it took about a minute for Meshkat and Fatima to get the phone number of an older woman so they could connect her to a Ramadan nutrition seminar.
"We just try our best to help them," said Meshkat.
Hafsa Fatima, left, and Eshrat Meshkat are both Community Health Ambassadors at the Flemingdon Health Centre. (Derek Hooper/CBC)
The ambassadors have been helpful in connecting residents to cancer screenings, says Quinlan. Their efforts resulted in a pap clinic opening in Thorncliffe Park that featured only female doctors, which speaks to the ways they can connect to communities, she said.
As a resident, Fatima says she can reach people in a way others can't.
"It's difficult sometimes for higher-ups to speak to people. I'm hearing what the community needs," she said.
CBC Toronto is spending time in the Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood as part of our Communities in Focus initiative. Our goal is to hear your stories about this unique neighbourhood and share them with the rest of the city.
To stay up to date and engage with our latest stories about Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park, subscribe to our Thorncliffe Park WhatsApp Channel.
The Ontario Ministry of Health did not respond directly to questions about funding for the ambassadors specifically. But in discussions with CBC Toronto, it confirmed that the High Priority Communities funding, which includes the ambassadors program, will continue past March 31.
Quinlan said she hasn't heard from the province about the funding continuing yet and that in her most recent quarterly update with the government, they had made it clear the funding would end.
In a statement, spokesperson Hannah Jensen also said the Flemingdon Health Centre is receiving an investment of $850,000 to expand to a new site, which will allow another 1,650 people to connect to primary care.
Researchers at nearby Michael Garron Hospital published a June 2023 study that said health ambassadors are the glue between care systems.
That's why Mussarat Ejaz, manager of population health at the Flemingdon centre, says it's important that the ambassadors program becomes sustainable to allow continued trust with the community.
"Funding comes to an end, and then what? You lose the momentum," she said.
"We want [residents] to have sustained access to health-care."
Ejaz says Flemingdon along wih the neighbourhood's health partners will have to piece together funding to keep the vital program running. Even still, Quinlan says they'll only be able to keep a "fraction" of the ambassadors they have now.
Mahmood, now a mother of three, says the ambassadors have helped her feel more comfortable as a new immigrant in the community.
"So many families come here and are still unaware [of their health] because of the language barriers," she said.
"We need to connect them."
(CBC)
