Press Releases

Bayshore Home Health and Rexall undertake joint health education program

Toronto, ON, April 23, 2007—Bayshore Home Health, Canada’s largest provider of home and community health care services, is working with Rexall Health Centre to provide free wellness clinics and home care advisory services. Rexall Health Centre is a leading-edge pharmacy model that combines access to a variety of health professionals as well as information and education resources all under one roof.

"Canadians are seeking new sources for medical care, advice and information,” says Mike Krunic, director of marketing for Bayshore Home Health. “Pharmacies, given their reputation for trust and their visible presence in the community, are well positioned to play a broader and more vital role as community health care resources."

As people take a more proactive approach to their health and our society ages, there’s a growing demand for health education as well as counseling about home health care. To help meet this need, a registered nurse from Bayshore Home Health is available six days a week at Rexall Health Centre providing wellness clinics plus information about home health care.

The wellness clinics include:

• Blood Pressure (BP) Screening Clinic including blood pressure, risk factors and controlling hypertension.
• Total Cholesterol Screening Clinic including a cholesterol reading, risk factors and information.
• Random Glucose Screening and Diabetes Information Session including a non-fasting random blood glucose test, risk factors, screening for undiagnosed diabetes, prevention and disease management.
• The Osteoporosis Screening Clinic utilizes the innovative technique of bone sonometry where an ultrasound of the heel bone is taken.
• Skin Health / Sun Safety Awareness Clinic with UV-detect photograph aims to educate clients about the importance of maintaining healthy skin. A “UV-detect” photograph is taken to identify sun-damaged areas on the face.

“The Bayshore clinics offer Rexall Health Centre customers a quick and easy way to take a more preventative approach to managing their health and also learn about home health care,” adds Krunic. “Many Canadians, especially those in the ‘sandwich’ generation with school-age children and elderly parents, don’t understand how home health care works—or that it even exists.”

The Bayshore Home Health nurse is also available at Rexall Health Centre to provide personal home care consultations and home care group information sessions. These sessions will educate people about the kind of care that’s available, when home care should be started, what to look for in a care provider, funding options and more.

“With the new Rexall Health Centre, we’ve taken our ‘pharmacy first’ philosophy to the next level,” concludes Andy Giancamilli, CEO, Katz Group Canada Ltd./Rexall. “Whether you need products relating to specific conditions, pharmaceutical advice, nursing or therapeutic services or research resources, you’ll find it here. It’s all about health and wellness from the moment you walk in the door.”

Rexall Health Centre is located at 9625 Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Hours of operation are Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

About Bayshore Home Health

Bayshore Home Health has been enhancing the quality of life, dignity and independence of Canadians in their homes since 1966. Canadian owned and operated, it is the country’s largest provider of home and community health care services, with more than 40 locations and 6,000 employees in eight provinces. Its specialties are in-home nursing, personal care and home support – offered directly to consumers and also delivered through government care programs, personal and group insurance plans, and workplace safety insurance. Its caregivers provide about 5 million hours of home care annually to 40,000 clients. The company’s other services include nurse and caregiver staffing, pharmaceutical support services, health education programs, infusion clinics and dialysis centres. Bayshore Home Health is a winner of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies program for 2006.

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www.bayshore.ca