Nipissing First Nation welcomes new walk-in clinic in Garden Village
By Kelly Anne Smith
NIPISSING FIRST NATION — A walk-in clinic on reserve in Nipissing First Nation is accessible for the first time. Citizens can now see a doctor at the Lawrence Commanda Health Centre in Garden Village, Ontario.
“This council is very proud of that, being able to have that brought into the community. And we’re very appreciative of all the work that went into getting this long sought-after clinic in our community,” states Nipissing First Nation G Cathy Stevens, explaining why Council prioritized setting up the walk-in clinic. “As everybody is experiencing, the emergency departments at the hospital are quite overburdened everywhere. It seemed a real problem for the Garden Village and West Nipissing area. We had community members that said they had wait times of six, eight, even nine hours in the emergency room of the hospital. It especially seemed to be higher with contagious viruses going around. It was concerning to us because we are all very close to the Elders in our community. We are very closely connected with our family members and a lot of us are caring for some of our elderly people who are vulnerable.”
Gimaa Stevens cautioned on the risk to members sitting in an emergency waiting room, not knowing what they could be exposed to.
“We thought if we could have something for ourselves in our own community, that would be more efficient and safe. If we could help speed things up. It would be for the better health of all of us here in the community,” Gimaa Stevens recalls. “Garden Village, especially, because we depend on the West Nipissing Hospital. There were even times when they posted they were too busy and had to shut the doors. Or they would have no doctors. There were no doctors scheduled for a weekend, so they said the entire weekend there was not going to be any emergency walk-ins. This is very concerning on our end.”
Gimaa Stevens says some Nipissing First Nation communities can be served in the City of North Bay, a 30-minute drive from Garden Village.
“The City of North Bay has other services as well, walk-in clinics and the big Regional Health Centre, so the other end of our community could easily be served there although they would be subjected to wait times. But in the Garden Village end, we just didn’t have anything. We were having to travel either to North Bay or the Sudbury area.”
Hope rose from the North Bay Indigenous Hub, says Gimaa Stevens.
“The only way we could have possibly done it is the great relationship and partnership with the Indigenous Hub that’s in North Bay.”
Dr. Christine Lalonde is Nipissing First Nation’s Director of Health Services. She recalls her discussion with Laureen Linklater-Pizzale, Executive Director of the North Bay Indigenous Hub, on the challenge of hiring a doctor for the new walk-in clinic.
“I was telling her about my strategic objectives. It was going to be a miracle because I sit on the physician and recruitment retention committee for the hospital. I even teach for the medical school. It’s difficult to retain physicians in the North in communities like this. So, to be tasked with making a walk-in clinic when the hospital can’t staff their hospital…She said she had a new doctor working there at the Hub. She said, ‘There is a day in her schedule maybe I can link you to.’ So, that worked out beautifully. The young physician actually graduated from the school that I teach at. And, she is Indigenous from Bear Island. It’s been very exciting. Our second day is today actually.”
Seven Indigenous nurses at the Lawrence Commanda Health Centre provide healthcare. Lalonde adds community members may come to the walk-in clinic for general common health issues such as wound care, diagnoses, and prescriptions.
“I expect anyone on reserve here or within the area to be able to be serviced for [those things]. Most do have family doctors. Walk-in clinics are different. There’s actually a change in the rule how physicians get paid. You know generally, walk-in clinics, you have to go to the one that is associated with your doctor, otherwise they get dinged. That has been removed. That should open up and ease access to patients everywhere in Ontario. That helps a lot,” Lalonde explains. “So, if someone has a family doctor but can’t get in, there is a need for urgent care. Maybe they have a wound. Maybe they need stitches. They can come here to receive the care from our physician and our nursing staff.”
Gimaa Stevens says even more health services are being considered for Nipissing First Nation.
“…Instead of going to the hospital to get blood screens over there, sitting in line again over at the hospital, we’ll be able to do that here. There might even be opportunity to do ultrasounds in our health centre. We’re really excited about all of that. This walk-in clinic has helped to create more of a need for those resources to be solid in our community. Even the first night that they offered it, they had enough people there to keep everybody busy that evening. It went very smooth,” she states. “I think with the experience that we have in our community and the dedication of our staff, and the connections that we have with the North Bay Indigenous Hub, it just made it a much smoother transition for the community. The comments and the feedback on it have been tremendous. Everybody thinks it is a great thing to finally get in our community.”