THESSALON – The community’s new Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic started accepting applications in early January with the grand opening slated for the spring.
It is physically attached to the Thessalon hospital and directly across from nursing home and below the new senior’s apartments.
“It is a hub of health,” said Donna Latulippe, former Thessalon mayor.
The clinic is the result of persistence, by Latulippe, who continues to serve the community after leaving office, as well as Barb Harten, Algoma Manor administrator, new directors Sheila Martineau, Christie Simon, and Colleen West, as well as site staff.
“When I was mayor I had a number of calls and visits from orphan patients,” Latulippe said.
“These people couldn’t find a local doctor. We had a wonderful physician recruitment program,” with two doctors in Thessalon and two in Bruce Mines, all of whom had full patient loads.
Since that time, Dr. Janet McLeod has retired. With the new program already under construction, Latulippe said, “Once people learn more about nurse practitioners, they will understand it really is a good option. I have toured the new area. It is beautiful.”
Board president Brenda Paat,a nurse practitioner, has more than 30-years’ experience nursing in nearby Sault Ste. Marie.
“I was too old when I decided what I wanted to do to enter the medical profession and I was already a nurse,” she said on her decision to become a nurse practitioner.
“It was an easy transition for me.”
For Complete Article: http://www.saultstar.com/2014/01/29/new-health-centre-acepting-patients
