What's New

The Summer Snack Club is a new community initiative led by the West Elgin Community Health Centre in partnership with Southwestern Public Health, the Rodney Caring Cupboard, the Dutton Daffodil Society, Harvest Hands, local farmers, businesses, service clubs, and community volunteers. The program was created to help bridge the nutritional gap that many children from West Elgin and Dutton Dunwich experience during the summer months when school breakfast, lunch, and snack programs are unavailable. 

Over the past weekend our registration for this program grew to 94 children. From July 9th - September 3rd each child will receive a package containing 2 healthy snacks per day ensuring they have access to nutritious food throughout the summer. Weekly snack boxes will be assembled by volunteers and distributed through the West Elgin Community Health Centre, Rodney Caring Cupboard, and Dutton Daffodil Society.

The summer snack program is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when organizations, volunteers, local businesses, and community members come together with a shared goal - ensuring every child has access to healthy food throughout the summer.

In observance of Canada Day on July 1, 2026, the Centre will be closed. We reopen on Thursday, July 2nd at 8:30 a.m.

First year Schulich School of Medicine students, Pardis Baha and Aviva Moses, recently spent their Discovery Week learning about community health serving rural communities. During their time with the Centre, they experienced inter-professional health care, shadowed primary care physicians and nurse practitioners, and toured areas of the community including local farms. Both Pardis and Aviva were impressed with clients' access to comprehensive care in West Elgin. Pardis and Aviva were warmly welcomed by all as both shared that they loved the smaller, caring, and intimate health care environment here at our Centre.

~Compassion~Excellence~Collaboration~Accountability~Respect~Equity

In June 2026 we recognized and celebrated our staff service milestones. Did you know that 43% of the Centre's staff have worked in West Elgin for more than 5 years, of which 28% of our staff have been with us for more than 10 years? And an elite 10% of our staff have served their rural communities for more than 20 years. Dare to say, West Elgin has some "special sauce" both as a Community Health Centre serving our clients and as a great place to work, but we are also surrounded by wonderful, caring rural communities. We congratulate all of our service milestone recipients for their dedication, kindness, compassion, and committment to service excellence.

2 Years

Shelbey Bint, RN, Diabetes Educator, Shannon Brown, Support Worker, Marty Given, Van Driver, Jon Turalinski, Psychotherapist, Taraesa Tellier, Support Worker, Hailey Watson, Support Worker

5 Years

Malou Soteco, Support Worker, Susan Irsag, Support Worker, Michelle Johnston, Program Lead, Community Support Services

And a special shout out to Dr. Rycerz, Bettyjo, Katherine, Rick, and Shelly!

Please join us for the Centre's Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, June 23rd at the HUB - 146 Munroe Street, West Lorne. Please RSVP by Thursday, June 18, 2026.

Help us purchase a new accessible van to serve our rural communities. By sponsoring a seat, your business will receive ongoing advertisement on the back of the new van. There are 9 seats available for sponsorship. Make a difference with us in community health!

The Community Heart Podcast was developed to help bridge the gap between healthcare and rural communities through honest, relatable, and meaningful conversations. We'd love for you to listen, support, and share the first podcast within your networks to help us reach more members of the community.

Click Here to Hear the Podcast: The Community Heart - Podcast #1

Service Interruption: Dynacare Labs has confirmed they will not be at the Centre on Thursday, May 21, 2026. They have reminded that lab services will be available at Four Counties Hospital.

The Centre is very excited to share some amazing news! Reimagining our health promotion and healthcare education media, the Centre has introduced a new podcast series called "The Community Heart" on April 15th.

The podcast focuses on bridging the gap between healthcare and rural communities. Led by Kaitlyn Stoddart, Youth Advocate, and Val McGregor, Psychotherapist, the first guest speaker is Janelle Johnston, one of our exceptional Primary Care Nurse Practitioners. We wish Kaitlyn, Val, and Janelle a positive first podcast!

Stay tuned! The Centre will create a podcast section on our website in the near future.

As of April 1, 2026, all new primary care client applications will be administered through Health Care Connect. Only the application and wait list process has changed as our family physicians and Nurse Practitioners continue to onboard new clients. 

If you are seeking to become a primary care client, please either call 811 (available 24 hours a day), or visit the Health Care Connect website at Health Care Connect or scan the QR Code in the poster below.