Today, Western News presents its 10th annual Newsmakers of the Year – a celebration of some of the people, places and things that shaped the year at this institution. Before we start looking ahead to 2020, join us as we take one last look at 2019. Visit the entire list.
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Dr. Andrea Sereda, BSc’03 (Microbiology/Immunology), MD’07, a family physician who practices street outreach medicine, provides care through the London Intercommunity Health Centre (LIHC). Working with the Emergency Safer Supply substitution program, she prescribes hydromorphone, an opioid used by injection drug users to reduce the risk off contaminated street drugs.
With the program, Sereda has seen women give up sex work and men give up crimes. The program has housed chronically homeless individuals, as well as got patients who had never been to a doctor before coming into LIHC weekly.
Additionally, Sereda works with Street Level Women at Risk program in London and uses a housing-stability approach to assist women experiencing homelessness and involved in street-level sex work.
Patients can drop into the LIHC with no appointments and Sereda regularly goes out into the street and shelters to provide care where her patients are.
