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Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com
RN Crystal Kaukinen takes Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle’s blood pressure on Friday at the Anishnawbe Mushkiki aboriginal community health centre.
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Thunder Bay’s Aboriginal community health centre is getting a boost with the addition of a new nurse practitioner-led clinic.
One of 25 expected across Ontario, including one already announced earlier this year at Victoriaville Mall, the clinic will help the Anishnawbe Mushkiki cut down on its 300-person waiting list and provide better health care to its existing 6,658 registered patients.
Anishnawbe Mushkiki executive director Bernice Dubec said the addition gives them an opportunity to improve their primary health-care services, expand clinic hours and recruit more health-care professionals.
"There will be a team of people who will be hired. We will be hiring nurse practitioners for sure, as well as a physiotherapist, a dietitian, more medical clerks and a youth and child counsellor, I’m hoping," Dubec said at a Friday announcement held at Anishnawbe Mushkiki Royston Court facility.
The exact number of staff additions has yet to be determined and are subject to negotiations with the province.
Dubec said the impact the new clinic will have on Aboriginal health care can’t be understated.
"The reality for many aboriginal people in our community is they do not have a family doctor. So in order to access primary care service they either have to go to the emergency department of the hospital or go to some of the walk-in clinics," Dubec said.
Being subjected to the long waits at the ER or at a walk-in clinic can create barriers to health care for the aboriginal population, she added, which can be dangerous.
"You wait until a problem escalates to a crisis point until you reach out the health-care services, and we want to prevent that. We want to encourage aboriginal people to be actively engaged in their health care, to work more on prevention and adopting healthy behaviours and living a healthy lifestyle," Dubec said.
MPP Bill Mauro (Lib.-Thunder Bay-Atikokan) said the add-on to the 10-year-old clinic is in line with the province’s approach to health care. Seven similar clinics have already been announced, including the one in Thunder Bay, and 18 more are expected to roll out in the coming years.
"The first thing it means is that more people are going to have access to primary care. And a result of that, more people are going to have healthy outcomes. The focus here is creating accessibility to primary care," Mauro said, adding he sees the nurse practitioner plan having a significant impact and should help address severe health-care professional shortages in the city.
"It’s one of the ways that we feel we can provide more professionals with an ability to meet that under-serviced population."
Nurse practitioners, while unable to provide full physician services, are able to treat common illnesses and injuries, order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests and can refer patients to specialists and guide them through the health-care system.