CRAPAUD, P.E.I. - Prince Edward Island’s South Shore has a “huge” problem when it comes to primary health-care services, and something needs to be done to meet the needs of the community, said a concerned resident.
Keila Zinck of Hampton said the recent departure of a family physician has left a huge void in the community.
At the beginning of the year, Dr. Joey Giordani moved his practice from Crapaud to Cornwall, leaving the area between Summerside and Cornwall without a practicing doctor.
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“He had hundreds of patients,” Zinck said.
Zinck does have a family doctor, but has to commute to Cornwall for appointments. And while she’s mobile and able to do so, not everyone is afforded the same luxuries.
“It’s just inconvenient that if you need to see somebody and you’re not well to have to drive somewhere within 20-30 minutes.”
Zinck’s concerns are not unique.
Following a public meeting in November where residents expressed concerns over the lack of medical services in the area, a committee was established to look at tackling the issue.
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Mike Connolly, co-chairman of the South Shore Health and Wellness Committee, said the South Shore needs a permanent health-care facility to service the 7,000 or so residents living in the area.
There is currently a walk-in clinic that runs one or two times a week, depending on the time of year and on the availability of the doctors, he said, adding there are on average 27-28 patients during each day of clinic hours.
“It’s been meeting the needs right now, but we’d like to get something permanently established,” Connolly said. “There’s over 500 people on the patient registry without a doctor on the South Shore.”
The committee recently met with the provincial health minister to advocate for a full-time nurse practitioner who would practice in the South Shore area for a minimum of three days a week.
“We’ve been back and forth with them a little bit, but the communication’s been very slow,” he said. “They did communicate to us that they’re willing to push and finance a nurse practitioner one day a week in our community.”
Connolly said he’d ideally like to see a health clinic that continues operating night clinics, has a nurse practitioner working three days a week, and offers alternate health care services – like physiotherapy and acupuncture – on the days when there isn’t a nurse practitioner on duty.
The committee is currently working towards getting its charitable status designation, and is looking for canvassers to work on behalf of the committee to help raise funds for a new facility.
