Pap-apalooza Pap test clinic scheduled for May 5 in Barrhaven

For some women, getting a pap test can be intimidating. Thanks to an event coming up in Barrhaven, getting a pap test can be part of something that brings the community together.

Three Ottawa doctors are organizing a daylong Pap Test Clinic for women who do not have a family doctor and are due for cervical screening tests.

The pop-up clinic will be at the Rideau Valley Health Centre on 1221 Greenbank Rd. in Barrhaven from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fri., May 5.

Pap-apalooza events and promotions have been very popular over the past five years in the Thunder Bay/ northwest Ontario region, as well as in British Columbia. With the shortage of family doctors being a national problem stretching across Canada, Ottawa finds itself in a crisis with a shortage of family doctors that is hitting the suburban and rural areas of the city particularly hard.

One of the event organizers, Dr. Lesley Spencer, said a lot of people who are overdue for Pap tests as it was not an urgent essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I heard about the event in Vancouver on an online doctors’ forum, and I thought it would be a great idea to do something like that here,” Spencer said. “I reached out to them and we are more or less following their template and plan for the event.”

Spencer said there are five doctors willing to work at the event and there is a team of volunteers and students who will be on hand to help out. There will be refreshments, snacks and loot bags available while they last.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm about the event, from the doctors, nurses and volunteers,” she said. “Getting the test done can be very intimidating and a lot of women feel vulnerable. This event will take some of those feelings away and make them feel more comfortable.”

To screen for cervical cancer, the Ontario Cervical Screening Program recommends having a Pap test every three years if you have a cervix, are age 25 to 69, and are or have ever been sexually active. Sexual activity includes intercourse (sex) and digital (using the fingers) or oral (using the mouth) sexual activity involving the genitals with a partner of any sex.

Dr. Spencer and Dr. Kaitlyn Orton-Shmitt both rent clinic space at the Rideau Valley Health Centre and are among the doctors looking to grow the Pap-apalooza program to other areas of the city such as Kanata, Orleans and downtown Ottawa. The clinic will also provide an opportunity for medical students to get handson experience by working at the clinic.

If the program is successful and there is a demand, clinics could be added outside the City of Ottawa boundaries in communities like Kemptville and Arnprior. Many Barrhaven and area residents already use the Kemptville District Hospital, which is less than a half hour drive from the community.

OHIP is covering the cost of testing supplies and the doctors are paying for staffing at the clinic.

To be eligible for Pap tests at the Pap-apalooza event, patients must have valid OHIP