June 18, 2015
The doctor shortage has affected so many families in St. Thomas. Our city was recently named a "high priority needs" community due to lack of family doctors. For many residents their primary source of medical care is the walk-in clinic or emergency room at the hospital. It is projected that we will lose an additional 7 family doctors over the next 5 year. Our best efforts to attract new doctors to St. Thomas have been unsuccessful as these professionals have opted to move to neighbouring communities. What has been lacking is a facility that the new medical graduates find attractive and suit their needs. The decision was made to take the saying "build it and they shall come" to heart and build a state of the art facility. Many months of research and planning have gone into this project and we are glad to announce the new 20,000 sq. ft. Elmdale Health Centre.
Current vacant medical offices in St. Thomas were lacking key ingredients that the new doctors required to set up their practices. These deficiencies were identified and plans were designed to ensure that we could be competitive and attract the doctors to St. Thomas. The model of family health organizations (group practices) is what new graduates are looking for. The new physicians seek the guidance and mentoring of experienced physicians which will be readily available. Patients will be the big beneficiaries of this collaboration of all the healthcare professionals working in the building.
The new medical building will host a new 6000 sq. ft. group practice, designed to accommodate 6 new family doctors. Their suite is being designed in consultation with the doctors to have electronic medical records and fibre internet in an ergonomically efficient group setting. Additionally we plan to attract a pharmacy and other healthcare professionals to provide added convenience for the patients.
