Decisional structure

The Point. Saint-Charles Community Clinic is a community-controlled health and social services non-profit organization.

Citizen Management

Over the years, democratic management and community mobilization have ensured the success of the Clinic's interventions. One of the Clinic's fundamental principles is community participation and mobilization to improve living and health conditions and service quality. "An informed public that deliberates and participates in decision-making will choose objectives with a view to improving the community's quality of life, employing effective and often less expensive means to do so." (Conseil de la santé et du bien-être, september 2003. L’organisation locale et la régionalisation des services de santé et des services sociaux [translation])

A General Meeting composed of residents and an elected and accountable Board of directors allow for a consistent, multiple and diverse representation of the neighbourhood's interests and needs. Through their involvement in various work committees (hiring committee, neighbourhood relations committee, health action committee, etc.), residents commit, on a volunteer and solidarity basis, to ensuring that their Clinic reflects their diverse realities.

In the face of certain governmental directives that are frequently out of touch with realities on the ground, this form of community management enables the Clinic to stay on course and maintain the approaches and practices that are more suited to the neighbourhood.

Participatory Management

The Clinic's internal governance is rooted in a philosophy of participatory management. The goal of this participatory management philosophy is to promote the sharing of expertise so as to develop better means and strategies for achieving the Clinic's objectives. An important aspect of the Clinic's operation is the contribution of the specific expertise of employees who provide the services, deal with users day after day, and support the services as part of the work organization. It is a tradition of the Clinic to have employees on the various work committees and involve them in decisions concerning its mission and priorities.