Queen’s University is developing a model that could provide services for up to 20,000 orphaned patients in the Kingston area.
The primary care clinic would be located in the former St. Mary’s of the Lake hospital.
With a physician shortage in Kingston, and throughout the country, the struggle to find a family doctor is a hassle far too many Canadians are familiar with.
“The wait-list is like two years,” says Shannon Graham, a new mother. “Disappointing is the word I would use.”
This new model could be the perfect medicine for what ails local health care.
It’s planned to be a clinic that will provide care for all the families unable to find a doctor, which is close to 20 per cent of Canadians.
“You deserve a primary care home, just like every child in Canada deserves, and has access to, a public school,” says Dr. Jane Philpott, dean of the faculty of health sciences at Queen’s.
According to a post by Queen’s Faculty of Health Sciences late last year, the business plan for the home is being reviewed by the Ministry of Health.
Once approved, the new facility could be open within six months.
“We can actually be one of the first regions in the province to say that every person who lives in our region has a primary care home,” says Philpott.
Queen’s is asking the Ministry of Health to fund the facility, and if approved, it would cost the ministry about $500 per person per year.
“I’m pushing the province to please fund our project,” says Philpott.
“It’s totally doable, it’s affordable.”
While the launch date is yet to be confirmed, for thousands of people across the city, it’s a date that can’t come soon enough.