The non-profit service sector is being challenged. All provincial health cooperatives are included in this uphill battle. The Ici Santé health cooperative is turning to fundraising campaigns to help sustain its Howick and Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague offices.
The co-op is juggling its financial obligations while managing a lack of stable funding. Progress is evident, as the organizations is serving a growing number of members each year. The main source of revenue for the organization comes from membership dues, and while 15 to 20 new people are joining the co-op every month, this is no longer enough to cover the operating costs at the two locations.
The cooperative is much like a non-profit organization in that all profits are reinvested in equipment and service improvements, but because fees are charged for services, the group is less able to access government grants.
“If people are assuming that this is like private healthcare, they are completely wrong,” said Amy Tolhurst, who is a founder of the Ici Santé cooperative and a current board member with the Fédération Québécoise des Coopératives de Santé (FQCS).
She noted that the provincial government’s new policy on primary care and services, which proposes linking Quebecers to care territories to ensure access, continuity, and proximity to services, also recognizes health cooperatives as potential affiliations on par with interdisciplinary teams at CLSCs, family medicine groups, and medical clinics.
Such recognition would elevate Ici Santé’s status by formally integrating it into the regional healthcare system. The hope is that funding might follow this change; but in the meantime, Tolhurst explained that after functioning for over ten years in the region, the co-op “is now in a spot where we are asking the community to support us to boost our revenue.”
The co-op now has over 2,000 active members, but many choose to renew their membership only when they require services. “This uncertainty makes it especially hard to budget and plan ahead,” said nurse Laurence Gingras, who is also the vice-president of the board of directors. She explained they are now encouraging members to think of their annual fees like they would any other form of health insurance that ensure their access to services.
Gingras acknowledged the co-op is well supported by the municipality of Howick, which provides their location in what is known locally as the Pink School free of charge, and by Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, where they rent their offices. The organization also receives support from other municipalities, local elected officials, and private businesses, but the amount is inconsistent.
Tolhurst said the team of professionals at the co-op and the board of directors has decided to take on a more proactive role in their financing, by holding a fundraiser once every two months to build a cushion for slower operational periods during the winter months and over the summer.
The additional income will also ensure the co-op can continue to invest in new services. A bilingual doctor joined the Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague location just over a year ago, which has increased the number of patients and referrals. The team is now performing over ten blood tests per day in Howick, and the foot care services provided by Mallory Barrington have expanded.
Tolhurst is optimistic. The co-op’s development has always been rooted in the community, she said, while remembering the early days at the town hall where they would see four or five patients per day. “Now we are booked solid,” she said, noting much of this growth stems from word-of-mouth and low wait times for appointments.
She remembers their first community-led fundraiser was initiated by an 11-year-old boy who set up a lemonade stand when they were first opened. “He sold $30 worth of cookies and lemonade, and he brought it in and he gave it to us,” she recalled, noting the young man is now a 911 operator.
More recent fundraisers have included a plant sale in partnership with the Domaine du Paysan farm in Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka, and an event at Bon Vivant table fermière restaurant in Saint-Chrysostome. With more fundraisers on the horizon, the team at the co-op are hopeful the community will continue its support to keep their doors open as wide as possible.