By Herman Giethoorn – Special to the Sydenham Current
At the Rotary Club of Wallaceburg on Thursday, September 17th, our guest speaker was Tara McGee, a Registered Nurse with the VHA (Visiting Homecare Association).
They are a leading provider of home health services for children, adults and seniors, providing community support and home health care when, where and how it is needed.
Tara has been assigned to care for Brian as his primary nurse (along with her many other patients of course) and comes in about every two weeks, to offer support and monitor his pain and symptoms and help him manage.
She checks how effective the pain medication is and serves as a liaison with the doctors if anything is needed.
She manages her own schedule and can spend as much time as she needs with a patient.
While she does not work directly for the CCAC (Community Care Access Centre), she is contracted to do the actual nursing, as CCAC has no nurses on staff.
She told us that you don’t need a doctor’s referral to contact the CCAC. If you or a family member need help, you can call the CCAC and they will send someone out to do an assessment, and determine what’s needed.
Brian told us that it’s God’s blessing that he is getting this service.
Tara told us that she finds this work very rewarding, and is very passionate about it.
She loves what she does and loves the community she lives in.
Tara feels she’s making a difference in the community.
She works mainly in the Wallaceburg-Dresden-Thamesville area, but may occasionally have to travel farther in case of an emergency.
She also does some teaching at the St. Clair College Chatham campus.
