Posted by Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Laurel Myers
The doctors and staff of the Lively Medical Centre have raised concerns about a new Nurse Practitioner-led clinic, set to be open in the same neighbourhood by fall of this year.
The new clinic - to be located in the former satellite office for the Greater Sudbury Police Service at 623 Main St. in Lively - is a partnership between the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the City of Greater Sudbury and the Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics.
Once operational, it will include six nurse practitioners, one registered nurse, a dietitian, a social worker and a part-time pharmacist, all working in collaboration with a family physician to provide comprehensive, primary health care service to as many as 2,500 people in the Walden area.
In a letter to the editor, the two full-time doctors, as well as staff - who have been working at the Lively Medical Centre for 36 years - voiced their discontent with the announcement.
"Several years ago, we made a proposal to the Ministry of Health to establish a Family Health Team so that health workers from a variety of backgrounds could work together to provide Walden with the family health care it needs and deserves," the letter stated. "The nurse practitioners were an important part of this proposal."
However, the proposal was turned down in favour of one made by the City of Lakes Family Health Team in Sudbury.
"Now, we have the news that another initiative is occurring with the same nurse practitioners, whom we had consulted with several years ago as a part of our proposal for a Family Health Team, now wishing to obtain provincial and municipal funding for an establishment of a totally separate clinic for themselves," the letter continued.
"While we ... welcome any initiative that will improve family health services to the citizens of Walden, several important questions must be asked."
The questions took the taxpayers of Sudbury into consideration, "with the enormous cost of refurbishing an old building, only one block away from the Lively Medical Centre, that has two vacant offices" requiring little to no renovations.
As well, the lack of consultation with the doctors and staff at the medical centre was a concern.
"Why was this whole deal made without any consultation whatsoever with the doctors and staff at the Lively Medical Centre, and in secrecy at a time when the economy is in a severe downturn, and all of the funding must come out of the pockets of taxpayers in the province and our community?" the letter stated.
Although the doctors agreed in the letter that there was a need for additional family health services in the Walden area, they said the answer is not through expensive renovations to old municipal buildings.
"Let's work together toward a solution to the shortage of family health services in Walden," the letter stated.
