WINNIPEG — Winnipeggers will soon have one less QuickCare Clinic to head to for healthcare services.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) made the announcement Friday, saying the province will not renew the lease for the QuickCare Clinic on St. Mary’s Road. It will close January 27.
The closure is meant to stabilize services and improve access to care at the remaining the remaining clinics across Winnipeg, according to the WRHA in a media release. Staff at the S.t Mary’s location will be redeployed to other clinics.
“It has been clear for some time that a change needed to be made in order to best serve Winnipeggers accessing QuickCare Clinics,” said Jeanette Edwards, regional director of primary health care for the WRHA.“It has been challenging to recruit sufficient numbers of nurse practitioners to staff six clinics which has resulted in closures and inconsistency of access. When the lease came up for renewal the decision to move towards closing this location now was practical from a property management perspective.” Edwards said there was no immediate plan to close the other clinics, but the Minister of Health said they are under review.
“They really haven’t reduced ER wait times, so it hasn’t had the effect they would’ve hoped for so we have to continue to look for things that will have that effect,” Kelvin Goertzen said. The recommendations are expected to be ready by June.
Meanwhile NDP health critic Matt Wiebe is opposed to the decision.
“To say the solution to staffing issues is to close a clinic and to close a facility is just moving in the wrong direction,” Wiebe said.
The clinics were initially opened by the former NDP government to help divert people away from emergency rooms to treat minor health issues.
There will now be five QuickCare Clinics in Winnipeg and two others across the province. The WRHA spent just under $600,000 to lease and equip the St. Boniface clinic.
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