Primary health care comprises the full range of preventive, curative, and palliative care provided in practice and at home by a multidisciplinary team with attention to physical, psychological and social well-being. The starting point here is high-quality, emancipating care with attention to and respect for the individual uniqueness of each patient in relation to their environment. 

Special attention is paid to patient-oriented health promotion and disease prevention, both individually and in groups, for the enrolled patient population, such as flu vaccination, cervical cancer screening, healthy diet workshops, sports activities, smoking-cessation meetings. In addition, district-oriented health promotion is carried out in the core area with the aim of increasing opportunities for patients and district residents to promote their health through empowerment strategies. Here, attention is paid both to lifestyle and living environment (environment, work, housing, socio-cultural context, etc.).

The community health centre Noordwijk works towards greater equality and equity ("equity") by promoting accessibility to healthcare in all its aspects, regardless of the cultural, social, religious or political background of patients or visitors.

To promote financial accessibility, the lump-sum payment system is applied. To ensure continuity of care, the centre is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., doctors are on regular weekly and weekend duty, and the nursing team provides continuity.

In the community health centre Noordwijk, there is intense and equal complementarity between the various staff members: general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, a social worker, a health promoter, a psychologist, the coordinator and the reception and administration staff. Depending on the needs and possibilities of the centre, these disciplines can be extended.

For other disciplines, we work closely with first-line care providers in the neighbourhood or with second- and third-line care providers.

We cooperate with the two other Dutch-speaking community health centres in Brussels. There is a partnership with the WGC MediKureghem (Anderlecht) who are willing to take on the sponsorship. The WGC De Brug (Molenbeek) also lends its support.

To achieve good interdisciplinary cooperation around patient care, there is a regular patient consultation, at which all patient-related care providers are present. The computerised multidisciplinary file will be accessible to all these care providers. Efforts are also made to ensure an efficient division of tasks, making the best use of the time of care staff. 

We are aware that teamwork has a greater capacity to adequately handle complex care needs.

The community health centre Noordwijk focuses on the following areas: Noordwijk (the Northern Quarters), Oud Laken Oost, Oud Laken West, Havenwijk, Houba.

Based on a strong commitment to these neighbourhoods, the centre works to improve local living conditions. Special attention is paid to supporting aspects that have a positive impact on health. Much attention goes to promoting social cohesion and strengthening social capital in the neighbourhood. We also aim to cooperate with other organisations in the neighbourhood. More concretely, there will be a cooperation with the non-profit organisation Harmonie in which the multifunctional hall will be made available for senior citizens' activities, among other things. There will also be cooperation with CPAS Brussels and Fedasil and with schools in the neighbourhood.

The centre's staff will contribute their expertise and actively participate in neighbourhood initiatives. To this end, the community health centre will take a pioneering role in stimulating and organising local consultation between health and welfare providers in the neighbourhood.

The community health centre strives to make every aspect of its operation evidence- and context-based and to address it in a planned and targeted way.

Through participation in scientific research and policy preparatory work, we want to actively contribute to the development of strong primary health care that is affordable and accessible to all.

In addition, the centre wants to disseminate the accumulated expertise through participation in education and training. We support the training of students. By offering an internship or training place, the centre hopes to provide an answer to the great shortage of Dutch-speaking assistance within Brussels.

The centre is a pluralistic organisation without party political affiliation and pursues a form of organisation where staff participation is possible.

Together with the team, a stimulating and collegial working atmosphere is created in which each team member can creatively live up to his or her professionalism and is given the opportunity to engage in policy. Permanent training and further education are made possible to this end.