New sexual health clinic in Hamilton expanding to keep up with demand

Two Hamilton family doctors have opened a downtown sexual health clinic that will help fill gaps left by public health services closed since the start of the pandemic.

During COVID, a lot of sexual health clinics have been shut down," said clinic co-founder Dr. Avery Gudgeon.

It's very sad that they still unfortunately haven't been able to open fully," said fellow co-founder Dr. Ashleigh McCullagh-Cheung.

The city's east end, Mountain and Waterdown sexual health clinics have been closed since March 2020.

Filling the void is the Hamilton Birth Control Clinic at 340 York Blvd. that has been in such demand that it has already expanded since opening in May.

I think a lot of people don't know where to go," said Gudgeon. There appears to be a need so there's probably been people waiting for this kind of care through the pandemic."

The clinic started out at one day a week and has already bumped up to three. It runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A lot of people who come to us don't have a family doctor," said Gudgeon. Sometimes they come to us because their family doctor may not be trained or comfortable in doing some of the procedures."

Gudgeon and McCullagh-Cheung wanted to keep the waiting list down so they have added a full-time nurse and three more doctors to the clinic. No referral is necessary.

We wanted to make access to care as easy as possible and not to have barriers," said Gudgeon.

Being approachable is especially important in an area of medicine about which patients often have trepidation.

A lot of people either get misinformation or they're afraid to ask questions. There's a big stigma around it," said Gudgeon. It's really satisfying to make people feel like they've been heard and they can ask questions in a non-judgmental environment and they leave feeling like they've been able to make a decision that's right for them."

Services at the clinic include contraception counselling, inserting intrauterine devices (IUDs) and Nexplanon, administering Depo-Provera injections, tests for sexually transmitted diseases, Pap tests, safe sex counselling, pregnancy support and care, and cryotherapy.

For more information, go to hamiltonbirthcontrolclinic.ca.

Joanna Frketich is a health reporter at The Spectator. jfrketich@thespec.com