NorWest Co-op Community Health officials say they expect a new community health clinic to serve Brooklands and Weston to open in early July.

Nancy Heinrichs, executive director of NorWest, said plans call for the clinic to open July 9 or 10 on the main floor of Bluebird Lodge Seniors Home  at 100-97 Keewatin St. It will be an extension of services already offered at the seniors complex.

"Our team is ready and we are waiting for some of the equipment now," Heinrichs said.

Renata Cook, a primary care co-ordinator for NorWest, said the new clinic will have both a physician and a nurse practioner. The staff will also include a primary care nurse, chronic disease specialist and dietitian.

The clinic will operate on an appointment-only basis and offer complete family medical care including diagnosis, treatment, follow-ups, referrals, consultations, and lifestyle counselling and education.  

Clients will also have access to other on-site providers on such as a clinical pharmacist, a corrective exercise specialist and social workers.

The clinic is expected to also provide diabetes and chronic-disease case management, seniors’ health and wellness programs and reproductive health-care services.  

Clients who visit the new clinic will also have access to all NorWest programs and services.
NorWest officials say the facility will use an electronic medical record system instead of paper charts to ensure comprehensive and safe care.

The area has been without a health clinic since the Westbrook Medical Centre, which was located on Logan Avenue near Keewatin, closed in late 2009.

NorWest board chair Ivan Sabesky said the community-based health centre had been investigating the possibility of operating its own primary care clinic in the area since the former centre closed.

The clinic on Keewatin will be a satellite site of ACCESS NorWest, a health facility currently under construction near the corner of Keewatin and Burrows Avenue. ACCESS NorWest is scheduled to open next summer.

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