At the Misericordia Community Hospital, a busy Child Health Clinic offers an effective model for community health promotion. Established in 1997, the clinic tackles many childhood health challenges that tax the resources of the community and impact the day-to-day life of families.

With support from the region, the program was developed to meet the urgent need for community-based programs to promote physical and mental health, prevent disease progression and advocate for children and their families. Today it offers services to address complex health issues that affect a child's education, social development and emotional wellbeing.

The clinic offers support for such pervasive childhood challenges as asthma and learning disabilities. It is also home to Canada's only pediatric environmental health program and the only clinics for enuresis and encopresis (bedwetting and soiling) in Western Canada.

"These kinds of services are difficult to develop within the offices of pediatricians or family physicians in private practice, " says pediatrician Dr. Lola Baydala, the clinic's medical director. "Individual physicians just do not have the supporting personnel or the tremendous amount of time it takes to explore all the options."

Physicians working in the clinic offer specialized expertise to clinic programs, and provide support for the Misericordia's high-risk deliveries and emergency cases.