Crapaud breaking ground on new clinic this month

Work will begin on a new, 1,500-square-foot medical clinic to serve the South Shore of P.E.I. within the next week or so.

Now it just needs a doctor.

The clinic is being built on the back of South Shore Pharmacy in Crapaud. Mike Connolly, co-chair of the South Shore Health and Wellness Committee, said the clinic is a crucial piece of the plan to recruit a doctor for the area.

"It's the build-it-and-they-will-come mentality," said Connolly.

"We have to have the facility in order to recruit a doctor, so we're very excited that the facility is going to be built."

The money to build the clinic was raised locally by the committee.

A small clinic is already operating out of the pharmacy, with a visiting nurse practitioner and a registered nurse. Connolly said the province has committed to providing more nurse practitioner availability.

But a doctor remains the goal for the community. The province has given its permission to the recruitment plan, and the community has created a package of materials selling the area that it is working to get into the hands of newly graduated doctors, as well as doctors from other provinces who might be interested in moving to P.E.I.

The ultimate plan is a collaborative care practice in the community, including a doctor, nurse practitioners and other health services, such as physiotherapy.

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With files from Island Morning