THUNDER BAY -- A provincial investment in two newly expanded clinics in this city is part of an initiative to manage chronic pain and curb the overuse of prescription painkillers.
Officials with the government of Ontario announced Friday funding of more than $1-million to St. Joseph’s Care Group and $280,500 to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, which will help provide an additional 1,000 visits per year.
The clinics are helping patients through multi-disciplinary care teams ensuring patients receive timely and appropriate care to manage chronic pain.
St. Joseph’s Care Group president Tracy Buckler said the funding has allowed the program to give the community more options and more access to alternative methods of chronic pain management.
“We work in an interprofessional team environment,” Buckler said. “There’s a number of professionals that support the clients to learn the different techniques, exercises and strategies.”
Buckler added that 1,000 visits are going to make a huge difference for the additional clients.
The clinics provide physiotherapists, occupational therapists, recreational therapists, psychologists and physicians.
“Every profession brings something to the table to be able to offer different strategies, activities and actions for the client to be able to implement on their own,” Buckler said.
“It’s important to recognize that every client is unique, and it’s important to understand what the pain is to them, and how they deal with that because everyone deals with it differently.”
The program provides an alternative treatment for chronic pain by preventing and reducing the need for prescription pain killers.
“The medication management is one part of the pain management program, and the physician is a very involved member of our chronic pain management team,” Buckler added.
Buckler said there have been clients in the past who have ended up with opiate addiction as a result of trying to manage their chronic pain.
She added that everyone individual is different and they come with different needs, so the clinic helps them through the challenges by empowering them with the knowledge to self-manage pain.
MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay – Atikokan) said the clinic’s work is a crucial component to the Province’s Opiod Strategy.
“We are building on programs that already exist,” Mauro said. “The funding we’ve announced today builds on the work that St. Joseph’s Care Group is already doing.”
The Chronic Pain Management Program has been in existence for more than 20 years.
“We can all assume if you suffer from chronic pain it can sometimes bring a host of other issues along with it,” Mauro said.
“We need to be able to do whatever we can to help people in that circumstance and that’s what today is about.”
