The Muskoka Community Foundation is supporting the part-time hiring of a nurse practitioner for MiND-AID’s new mobile youth mental health RV, announced executive director Lynn DeCaro today.
Supported with a $40,000 grant from the Dr. William S. Monk Community Healthcare Development Fund, the investment also goes towards outfitting the nurse practitioner’s area in the unique “Hub”, providing access to primary healthcare for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth across Muskoka.
“This is another fantastic project supported by the Dr. William S. Monk Community Healthcare Development Fund” said Lynn DeCaro. “In one year, this fund has supported the training and development of PSWs through an award at Georgian College’s Muskoka Campus, allowed Hospice Muskoka to hire an additional Nurse Practitioner and now the MiND-AID Nurse Practitioner for the newly launched mobile wellness hub”.
“The mobile youth wellness hub is a perfect example of collaboration between community service organizations working to find solutions to meet the needs of individuals who face many barriers to accessing services” noted DeCaro.
Jody North, Executive Director of MiND AID said “This generous support will allow our Integrated Youth Services Hub to knock down another big barrier to care – accessing primary healthcare. So many young people do not have a doctor or nurse practitioner or have transportation to get to services and this will allow fast access to a caring professional that is delivered to their own communities. We are so excited and grateful to be adding nurse practitioner Suzanne Corby to our Hub Team”.
“This particular project is a wonderful example of a community-centric approach to primary healthcare and solving our critical workforce shortages in this sector,” said Kathryn Monk, who created the fund to honour her late father.
“With MiND-AID, the Muskoka Community Foundation and the Cotage Country Family Health Team coming together ensure a nurse practitioner is part of the incredible RV Hub project, it just goes to show how unique collaborations can work to ensure our most vulnerable populations have access to primary care.”
The Dr. William Monk Community Healthcare Development Fund was established in 2023 to attract, develop and retain primary healthcare professionals in Muskoka.