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U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Local and Community News
Vancouver: New Dr. Peter Centre Will Serve up to 1,700 Clients
November 21, 2002 Ten years after the death of Dr. Peter Jepson-Young from AIDS, his mission to care for people living with the disease is still carried on by 35 staff members and 50 volunteers. The recent groundbreaking for a new $9.2 million (US $5.8 million) facility to house Vancouver’s Dr. Peter Centre represents the continuous evolution of his legacy.
Excerpted from:Located in space rented from St. Paul’s Hospital, the current Dr. Peter Centre provides daytime health services to 1,100 participants each month and supportive living accommodations for ten or more. Opened in April 1997, it fills a desperate need using a combination of nursing care, healthy meals and activities to improve the quality of life for those with HIV/AIDS. The center provides medical care and helps clients maintain medication schedules; it offers methadone treatments and a supervised injection site. It provides 160 daily meals, second-hand clothing and personal care supplies. Programs include art and music. When the new facility opens nearby next summer, the center will be able to expand its services to 1,700 daytime clients each month. It will be able to operate seven days a week and provide accommodations for 24 residents. The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation, a non-profit organization, will own and operate the new center with private donations and assistance from the federal and provincial governments and the city of Vancouver. As the first of its kind in Canada, the Dr. Peter Centre has been a resounding success. Residents of the center have reduced their acute hospital bed stays by 98 percent, and clients in the day health program have cut their time in hospital by half. Clients also say they appreciate the emotional support, friendship and feeling of community at the center. Shirley Young, Dr. Peter’s mother and a center volunteer said: "Looking back, we’re able to be less emotional and more astounded at exactly where his journey went ... his legacy just continues and it feels like he is with us every day." Back to other CDC news for November 21, 2002 Vancouver Sun 11.18.2002; Andrew Petrozzi This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update. |
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