Why join the co-op & what do I get?

Members own and participate in the co-op.

• All health co-op members have an equal voice, regardless of their level of involvement
.
• The Co-op Board of Directors represents our members and is responsible for governance in accordance with members’ values and vision.
• Members select, or can run for, the Board of Directors at the AGM each year.
• Members have a say in co-op programs and services.
• Members are part of a community owned and managed health care initiative - the first of its kind in Victoria.
• Members are encouraged to participate in, and contribute to, the co-op at all levels in order to assure the success of our vision, mission and mandate.

Quality Integrative Health Care

• Health Co-ops deliver health care in the most cost-effective manner of all of the present models of care in Canada
.
• Health co-op members enjoy better general health, have less visits to Emergency Rooms, and use less drugs than other health care delivery models.
• Health Co-op practitioners work within a multidisciplinary team framework, collaborating on care whenever possible.
• As an Integrative Primary Health Care Co-op, several modalities of complementary and alternative health are used, in addition to conventional medicine, in order to promote health, prevent disease, and manage/heal illness.
• Member practitioners are committed to learning about the other therapists on the team and the work they offer, in order to better facilitate timely and informed referrals within and without the co-op
.
• No matter which practitioner you are seeing in the co-op, the emphasis will be on seeing you as a whole, unique individual, and as a part of your family, community and your environment.
• No one knows your health needs, and responses to treatment, or suggested ways to avoid problems better than you do – an integrated health co-op is committed to remembering that fact.

Access to Health Care

• Members have access to co-op health education events and groups.
• Members who require access to uninsured services and have financial limitations are able to apply to the Health Access Fund in order to access their health care based on need rather than ability to pay.
• Members have access to web based health education and resources, including members’ only sections.
• Members have access to the Co-op Integrative Health Care team, including MDs, nurses, and several complementary and alternative health care practitioners.
• Members have access to our Co-op Community Clinics which are offered by-monthly, on a "pay what you can afford" basis, for all services. Proceeds from these clinics will go back to the Health Access Fund.
• Members are part of a new community-focused model of health care, where their choices (of health care practitioners, where they shop, where they fill their prescriptions) can help offer improved health care to others in our community.

Special Membership Benefits:

Members have access to benefits offered by partnering businesses.

Participating Member Practitioners will offer 5–15% of the income from their sessions with members back to the Health Access Fund in order to increase access for other members.

Member-Practitioners:

In addition to the above benefits, member-practitioners will benefit by:

• Making their services accessible to our members.
• Being listed on the website as a member-practitioner.
• Participating in regular health practitioner group meetings.
• Participating as a practitioner in the Wellness Clinic* the third Sunday of each month.