Hassle Free Clinic is a community-based clinic providing medical and counselling services in all areas of sexual health. It is the largest anonymous HIV test site in Canada, and is one of the country’s busiest sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics. The clinic strives to maintain an informal atmosphere, delivering services in a timely, non-bureaucratic manner. A fundamental principle of service delivery is a non-judgemental, supportive attitude to the treatment of sexual health concerns.
The clinic is incorporated as a non-profit charitable organization with a nine member community board of directors. The Board is responsible for overall financial and policy direction, in consultation with the staff collectives.
Hassle Free is one organization, sharing the same premises but operating at different hours for men and women. The staff collectives are responsible for administration, program development and service delivery. Each clinic is staffed by a medical director, doctors, paramedic counsellors and a shared bookkeeper. A city of Toronto public health nurse is assigned to work during the {$hfcMenLC} hours.
The women/trans clinic provides birth control, pregnancy testing, abortion referrals, STI and HIV testing and counselling and other services related to women’s sexual and reproductive health. The men/trans clinic specializes in STI and HIV testing and counselling. Testing is done at the ministry of health laboratory and through a private lab. Treatments for most STIs are free, and are provided by the Ministry.
The clinic is core-funded by the city of Toronto public health division, with additional staff funding from the city’s AIDS prevention program and the provincial AIDS bureau. Other funding sources are OHIP (payment for men/trans clinic patients without medical coverage), clinical studies, community funding bodies and miscellaneous donations.
Men/trans clinic physicians bill OHIP for their services but are paid an hourly rate based on the women/trans clinic physicians’ rate, paid through core funding.
