Our community health centre is a powerful catalyst in achieving an active, vital community whose residents enjoy optimal health and well being in all aspects. 

Our rural, community-governed health centre leads collaboratively in providing culturally sensitive programs and services:

• primary health care
• illness prevention
• health promotion.

Holistic Approach
We offer comprehensive and accessible services and programs that promote physical, mental, spiritual and social health. 

Respect and Compassion
We interact with individuals, families and communities in a caring, friendly and compassionate manner.

Partnership
We build relationships with clients, volunteers, community groups, inter-disciplinary team members and other health care providers.

Accountability and Responsibility
We are committed to ethical practice and good stewardship of resources – fiscal, human and environmental.

Communication
We engage clients, staff and the community through listening, information sharing, consultation and outreach.

Woolwich Community Health Centre was set up by a group of community residents concerned about health and wellness in St. Jacobs and surrounding communities. This group incorporated in 1985. In 1989, the health centre started receiving funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health to operate a facility in St. Jacobs. In 2005, we opened a second health centre in the village of Wellesley. The Nurse Practitioner office in Linwood is linked with the health centre in Wellesley.

Woolwich Community Health Centre is an accredited community health organization with three sites serving the rural townships of Woolwich, Wellesley, and Wilmot, and small areas of Perth County/North Easthope.

WCHC serves a geographical catchment area that includes the territory of Woolwich Township, Wellesley Township and the following areas of Perth County and Wilmot Township:

• In Perth County:
• The area bordered to the north by Perth Line 72, to the east by Perth Road 116, to the south by Perth Road 119, and to the west by Perth Road 121
• The area bordered to the north by Perth Line 56, to the east by Perth Road 103, to the south by Perth Line 43, and to the west by Perth Road 107
• In Wilmot Township, the area bordered to the north by Gerber Road (12), to the east by Wilmot Line, to the south by Snyder’s Road and Christner Road, including all Baden and Petersburg addresses, and to the west by Wilmot-Easthope Road.

WCHC operates two health centre sites: the main site in St. Jacobs and the satellite site in the village of Wellesley. The Linwood Nurse Practitioner Office (LNPO) is an affiliated access point of the Wellesley site.

Each health centre site serves part of WCHC’s catchment area:

• The St. Jacobs site provides primary health care to registered patients living in Woolwich Township.
• The Wellesley site and LNPO provide primary health care to registered patients living in Wellesley, Wilmot and Perth.

Residents from across WCHC’s catchment area may access health education programs offered at any site.

Among the residents of WCHC’s catchment area, priority for primary health care intake and program development is placed on populations that may experience greater barriers to health or barriers to accessing health resources. Our priority populations collectively include:

• Seniors (60+) and their caregivers
• Families with young children (0-6)
• Farm Families, including those from conservative Mennonite groups
• Youth (14-19 years of age) – this is a priority population only for the Wellesley and Linwood sites.

The general population is not considered to be a priority population. However, in setting priorities for primary health care intake and program development, WCHC will consider self-identified factors that increase the risk for poor health:

• “barriers to health”, such as presence of chronic disease, social isolation, family history of significant disease, etc.
• “barriers to accessing health resources”, such as low income, literacy issues, or lack of transportation, etc.