Salvus Clinic faces closure as it searches for a new home

Instead of clients filling the space at Moncton’s Salvus Clinic on Tuesday, moving boxes, that are stacked from wall to wall, have taken their place.

“Our offices are temporarily closed as of Friday, October 20th,” said executive director, Melissa Baxter.

The clinic received an eviction notice at the end of January and have been searching for a new space ever since.

It faced a closure earlier this summer, but The Multicultural Agency of the Greater Moncton Area (MAGMA), which now leases the entire building, was able to give them a temporary extension.

Baxter says at this point MAGMA needs the space to expand their own programming, which means after 11 years operating out of the building, Salvus needs to go.

“I would never have assumed in a million years we’d be at this point where we’re unable to provide a service,” said Baxter.

“We have gone anywhere from 10-15 locations looking for a place to operate out of and we have had three offers to lease rejected by landlords.”

In the past year, Salvus has seen around 4,200 individuals offering primary health care services, navigation services and wrap around services. Its services are directed towards clients dealing with substance abuse issues, mental illness and homelessness.

While the closure is troubling for Salvus and its clients, the loss of service has expanded to other resources in the community as well.

“I think when you look at the homelessness issue and homelessness crisis, in a lot of ways it’s really a public health crisis and so recognizing that there’s not a timeline on this closure, it’s very concerning,” said Shannon Barry, the YMCA Community Outreach senior director.

She adds, “in this time when we’re trying to advocate for more resources and more options and more support for those that are really the most vulnerable in our community, to be taking away already existing resources is really the last thing we want to do.”

Barry says Salvus is a vital community partner and it’s currently an ongoing conversation at the YMCA of where they can turn to in the interm while the clinic is closed.

“They’re our main go to when someone’s looking to access any sort of medical care or just kind of how to navigate those services because that is their primary purpose in the community and they’ve really helped a lot of our clients get the care that they need with little stigma and no barriers in place,” she said.

Salvus says they will still offer services through their mobile health unit and some outreach services, but it won’t replace what it can provide in office.

“Without this location to operate out of there’s going to be a significant service reduction and we anticipate that there will be a burden on the emergency and formal health care systems,” said Baxter.

She says the dream is a large space with eight medical exam rooms that is located in the downtown core. However, she adds that the clinic is willing and able to make almost anything work and right now they just need something to call home.

“Since the start of this search, we’ve had 200 plans,” she said.

“Plans change. They change all the time. We’re just going to continue to go with the flow and be really flexible. We’re hoping that we’ll find a short term and long term solution.”

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