What We Do
Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) offers a range of direct medical services and health promotion to the Renfrew-Collingwood area through RISE Community Health Centre.
RISE (Resilient, Integrative, Socially Just and Equitable) offers team-based care to local residents with supports available for medical and social needs. Services include:
- Primary care clinic (currently not accepting new patients)
- Pharmacy
- Community development and health promotion
- Harm reduction
For more information, call 604-558-8090* or email risechc@cnh.bc.ca.
Fax: 236-317-4270 (primary care clinic)
Fax: 778-653-3558 (pharmacy)
*Phone lines are open weekdays from 10 am to 3 pm. Our phones will not accept voicemails after 3 pm on business days. Please call us back during business hours.
Looking for a family doctor or nurse practitioner?
The RISE primary care clinic is still not taking new clients at this time but the province has created a centralized waiting list. In future, when our waitlist opens up again, we will be taking clients from this waitlist.
If you live in British Columbia and need a family doctor or nurse practitioner, register online for the Health Connect Registry or call 8-1-1 for more information or support in different languages.
Hours & Location
5198 Joyce St
Vancouver, BC V5R 4H1
Primary Care Clinic
Monday – Friday: 9:30 am – 6:30 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm*
*Group services and limited appointments available
Pharmacy
Monday – Friday: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 3 pm
For updates during extreme weather conditions, please call 604-558-8090 and leave a message if you require support and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You may also call the CNH Hotline at 604-412-3845.


Available Services
Community Development & Health Promotion
RISE provides health promotion programs, events, and advocacy within the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood, including:
- Outreach to local housing sites and organizations
- Health-related education and support groups
- A community advisory committee ensures community voices inform RISE’s services
- Information booths at community events and more
Harm Reduction
RISE provides the following harm-reduction services:
- Harm reduction supplies are available for pick-up during office hours
- Naloxone kits are available for pick up and naloxone training can be requested
- Nurse Practitioners and Physicians at RISE CHC prescribe medical therapies used to treat addictions including Opiate Agonist Therapy to clients of RISE primary care clinic
Why We Offer Harm Reduction
As stated by the Canadian Mental Health Association:
“Harm Reduction is an evidence-based, client-centred approach that seeks to reduce the health and social harms associated with addiction and substance use, without necessarily requiring people who use substances from abstaining or stopping…”
Essential to a harm reduction approach is that it provides people who use substances a choice of how they will minimize harms through non-judgemental and non-coercive strategies in order to enhance skills and knowledge to live safer and healthier lives.”
Pharmacy
RISE now operates a non-profit pharmacy open to all! We seek to provide inclusive, judgment-free and trauma-informed care. You do not need to be a RISE primary care client to use the pharmacy.
By filling your prescriptions with us, you will be helping your community. Income from the pharmacy will be reinvested into RISE and Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH), which operates the community health centre.
Our pharmacy provides the following services:
- Medication dispensing and counselling in multiple languages if needed
- Medication reviews and pharmacist consultations with translation services if needed
- Immunizations and medication administration
- Opioid Agonist Therapy
- Blister packing and free medication deliveries**
- Flu shots by appointment during Flu Season
Transferring Prescriptions to the RISE Pharmacy
Please ask us to contact your current pharmacy or request that your healthcare provider fax your prescriptions to us directly at 778-653-3558.
Primary Care Clinic
The primary care clinic at RISE offers medical care coordinated by a family doctor or nurse practitioner, plus additional care from a large healthcare team that supports physical, social and emotional well-being. The clinic provides ongoing care for general health concerns, social determinants of health, mild-moderate mental health conditions, addictions, and coordination of specialist care.
- Our priority is to connect Renfrew-Collingwood residents who do not have a regular healthcare provider and experience barriers to accessing care to a nurse practitioner, family physician and/or a healthcare team
- Our clinic team includes family physicians, nurse practitioners, community health workers, nurses, medical office assistants, dietitians, physiotherapists, counsellors, social workers, pharmacists, pharmacy assistants and occupational therapists
Who does the Primary Care Clinic serve?
RISE’s mandate is to provide health care to Renfrew-Collingwood community members who are not connected to a family doctor, including those who face challenging life circumstances such as financial difficulties, language and cultural barriers, social isolation and physical and mental health challenges.
Please note, RISE is not a walk-in clinic. Clients go through an intake process and generally have booked appointments. However, our new not-for-profit pharmacy is open to the public.
Appointments
Information for existing clients of RISE’s primary care clinic.
For six years, community members and health professionals advocated for a community health centre in Vancouver’s Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood.
Our History
From 2014 to 2020, community members and health professionals advocated to bring a community health centre to Renfrew-Collingwood.
Renfrew-Collingwood has a very low number of family doctors for the local population, compared to other parts of Vancouver. Many community members in Renfrew-Collingwood face barriers to care including:
- Transportation barriers,
- Language barriers,
- Lack of childcare,
- Lack of availability for evening and weekend appointments,
- Trouble navigating the healthcare system; and
- Discrimination.
The Department of Community Development at CNH carried out extensive community engagement with community members about their healthcare needs, previous health-related experiences, and hopes for a community health centre. Their voices informed the service plan for RISE.
Extensive research and community consultation informed the decision to focus on the following populations: Indigenous, youth, isolated seniors, newcomers, gender diverse people (LGBTQ2S), sex workers, those who are homeless or inadequately housed, people experiencing racism, people with mental health conditions, and those with problematic substance use.
Today, RISE continues to be part of CNH, a non-profit society governed by a volunteer board of directors. RISE works with an advisory committee of patients, volunteers and CNH board members who provide community input into RISE’s services and direction, and who make recommendations to the CNH board about governance issues related to RISE. Funding is provided through the BC Ministry of Health.
RISE officially opened at its current location on Crowley Drive on June 15, 2020.
How is a Community Health Centre different from a regular doctor’s office?
RISE offers team-based care, which means clients can access different team members who support their medical and social needs. Staff are experienced in providing culturally safe, trauma-informed care to community members from diverse backgrounds. Staff are also trained to recognize social determinants of health that may impact clients’ health and to help them with those issues.
What are the social determinants of health?
Social and economic factors affect people’s health and everyday life and can contribute to illness. For example, not having enough money can lead to negative health consequences. These factors are called social determinants of health. Social determinants of health include: Income and income distribution, education, unemployment and job security, employment and working conditions, early childhood development, food insecurity, housing, social isolation and loneliness, social support networks, health services, Aboriginal status, gender, race, and disability.