Pictou County Community Health Centre launches new outreach program

PICTOU – The Pictou County Community Health Centre is bringing Community Health Nurses directly to your neighborhood through a new community wellness program.

After getting its start on Sept. 26, the new Community Wellness Outreach Program offers convenient, welcoming, and relaxed health check-ins for community members ages 25-55.

The program will be visiting various community gathering locations, such as churches and libraries, throughout Pictou County. No appointment or health card is necessary to attend one of these sessions, allowing individuals to get their assessment at greater ease.

“Our focus is on helping folks to be their healthiest selves,” said Kelly Matthews, Project Coordinator with the Pictou County Community Health Centre.

“A big part of preventing chronic disease is understanding what risks you might already have in your life, whether it be genetics, lifestyle, or other factors. Our nurses can help identify those risks, and rather than having them work out of our office, we are getting them out the door through our outreach program,” Matthews said.

“All of our nurses are very friendly, approachable, and non-judgmental when it comes to the things that people talk about here. The feedback we have received so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with many people saying that they would not have had a check-up if such a program wasn’t available to them.”

According to Matthews, the outreach program is designed to reduce the amount of time required by people who wish to have a check-up, while also cutting down on transportation requirements.

The Pictou County Community Health Centre is a community-led, non-profit health and wellness organization based in Pictou, offering one-on-one guidance for booking primary care appointments, filling out government or dental care forms, finding community resources, and more.

“When we opened in January of 2025, our goal was and still is to really help people find the supports they need to be their healthiest selves,” said Susan MacConnell, Executive Director of the Pictou County Community Health Centre.

“Primary healthcare is all about your lifestyle, the social and economic factors that play into that, and the challenges that our communities face daily. It’s not just about the physical self, but knowing how to get the help you need,” she said.

“If you have diabetes, how would you know without the proper appointments? What about getting blood work done, or how you can pay for the drugs you need? Pictou County has the highest percentage of people in need of a family practitioner, as well as some of the highest chronic disease rates in the province,” she added. “We aim to help with all of those concerns and more by pointing people in the right direction to get the help they need when they need it.”

For more information and updates on the Pictou County Community Health Centre, visit its website, Facebook page, or send an email to chw@pictoucountychc.ca. Call or text 902-616-2142 to book an in-person or phone appointment.

The full list of outreach sessions and other events being organized by the Pictou County Community Health Centre can be found at the Community Calendar section on the group’s website. A free session and luncheon will be held next at St. Paul’s United Church in Westville on Nov. 4.

“It’s important that we have such a safe and accessible environment for this,” Matthews said.

“There are so many barriers for so many people to access healthcare nowadays, especially in Pictou County. So many people are waiting for a primary healthcare practitioner, and it’s not easy to just book an appointment to go for a check-up somewhere,” added Matthews.

“By being able to just access somewhere in the evenings when you are not working or somewhere that you can bring your kids along, it all serves to remove barriers for as many people as possible. We are even offering some free meals at some of these events! It all just serves to make Pictou County and everyone in it healthier and happier.”