The clinic also provides custom travel health kits, which might include first aid supplies, medications, rehydration salts, or more<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re heading on an international trip, there\u2019s a new health clinic you might want to visit.<\/p>\n
Newly opened this week, Up North Travel Clinic offers an array of services for people planning to travel abroad, including travel consultations, vaccinations, medication, and more.<\/p>\n
Whether you need a vaccination for typhoid or hepatitis A\/B, or prescription for malaria prevention or altitude sickness, the new clinic has you covered.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently in Sault Ste. Marie\u00a0there is no dedicated travel health clinic where somebody can just go and get everything they need all in one spot,\u201d said Shanelle Pucci, a registered nurse who opened the clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like this clinic is something that’s definitely going to be very beneficial to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
When travellers need preventative care, they might get immunized at Algoma Public Health, but then need to get a prescription for medication from their family doctors or a walk-in clinic.<\/p>\n
At Up North Travel Clinic, all of that can be handled under one roof \u2013 filling a gap Pucci noticed during her career as a public health nurse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started to see families, students, workers in our community that are getting bounced from place to place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Even if you\u2019re unaware of what medications or vaccinations you might need, Pucci can help you figure that out with a travel consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a one-on-one appointment where we review someone’s destination, their length of stay, their accommodations, their activities, and then we assess what health risks\u00a0they may be exposed to when they’re travelling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on that, we provide individualized vaccine recommendations, we prescribe the travel medications, and then we just give practical advice on things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clinic also provides custom travel health kits, which might include first aid supplies, medications, rehydration salts, or more depending on a traveller\u2019s destination and itinerary.<\/p>\n
While her clinic\u2019s services are not covered by OHIP, Pucci said\u00a0this type of help is not covered in any health-care setting and some of the costs may be covered under the traveller’s benefit plan.<\/p>\n
During travel appointments, the clinic can also provide publicly funded vaccines (such as tetanus, vaccines required by schools, etc.) free of charge.<\/p>\n
“These vaccines are already publicly funded. My goal is to remove any additional barriers for people who may not currently have a primary care provider or who have had difficulty accessing routine immunizations in the community,” Pucci said.<\/p>\n
The clinic also provides services for student\/employee form completion and tuberculosis skin testing, for students or employees working in settings that require specific immunizations or testing.<\/p>\n