Director of Kitchener refugee health clinic hopes to see more 'openness' in coming years

The director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Refugee Health Clinic says he hopes to see more "openness to others" in the community in the years to come.

Dr. Neil Arya, who's being recognized as one of CBC K-W's Waterloo regionChangemakers, said he sees problems on the horizon when it comes to people in the community getting along.

"What I'm seeing that could be more of a worrisome trend is less of an openness to others, less giving [and] less trying to recognizethe perspective of others," Dr. Arya said in an interview with The Morning Edition show host Craig Norris.

"We could look at that as being a function of fewer resources within the community, but I don't think it's that, I think it's something more," he added.

"It's our responsibility as global citizens to take the few refugees that we do have in Canada. We think that we're very generous but geographically we're not close to the areas with conflict so proportionally we take much fewer, but once we bring them here we want to make sure that they integrate as best as they can and they have opportunities that the rest of us have and that requires support," said Dr. Arya.

Changes over time

The longtime Waterloo region resident and family physician has spent decades working withunder-served communities in the healthcare sphere locally and internationally.

In 2008, Dr. Arya founded the clinic in collaboration with the Waterloo Region Reception House. The clinic, which started out with a smaller group of staff, has since grown to help hundreds ofrefugees in the region, including a larger group of Syrian and Ukrainian newcomers in recent years.

The clinic faced financial barriers over the pandemic years, which prompted Dr. Arya to advocate for more supports. It has since had to scale down operations, including turning people away unless high risk.

"It's become a very challenging environment post pandemic," he said.

Dr. Aryawears many other hats such as a primary care physician at a migrant worker clinic in Simcoe.

Watch a clip:

In this video clip, Dr. Arya talks about the importance of having a refugee health clinic in the region and what he hopes to see in the coming years.

WR Changemakers: Dr. Neil Arya

1 year ago

Duration 2:20

Dr. Neil Arya talks about the importance of having a refugee health clinic in Kitchener and what he hopes to see in the coming years.

Listen to the full interview:

Waterloo region Changemakers12:58Waterloo region Changemakers: Dr. Neil Arya

CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's Waterloo region Changemakers project aims to highlight people who have made a positive impact on the community through their work and story. Dr. Neil Arya is a family physician who has spent decades working with underserved communities in the healthcare sphere locally and internationally. He's the founder of the Kitchener-Waterloo Refugee Health Clinic.