EMC News: A family health team made possible by a provincial grant will be opening the doors to its new Barrhaven clinic this August.

From EMC Nepean/Barrhaven.
© 2009 – 2011 Nepean/Barrhaven EMC.
Read article on www.ottawacommunitynews.com

A team of eight local doctors, who plan to increase their numbers to an eventual 12, will be registering patients on Aug. 13 and 20 in advance of the Aug. 26 opening.

The opening of the 11,000 square foot Greenbelt Family Health Team at 3500 Fallowfield Road will also complete the rejuvenation of the once nearly abandoned mall, in the last two years the former grocery store-anchored mall has had new life breathed into it with the opening of the Barrhaven Legion and the new and expanded Beer Store.

Dr. Roozbeh Matin, who formerly worked in emergency medicine at the Winchester District Memorial Hospital, explained how the group of young doctors had reached the point in their lives where they wanted to operate a private practice.

“The provincial grant was during the last wave of family health teams announced by the government last year,” said Matin. “We got our grant and got busy buying the site and retrofitting the space.”

As young physicians without former patients, Matin said he and the rest of the staff are free to take on their maximum capacity of patients. Once fully staffed, he estimates the clinic will be able to serve 15,000 registered patients.

A variety of ancillary services will be available to patients registered at the clinic.

“The grant will allow us to provide nurse practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, dieticians, and create health programs that are community-specific through market research,” said Matin, adding they will be gearing towards the pediatric population due to the number of young families in the Barrhaven community.

“We’re in talks with a lab that will be connected with us, and are also speaking with regional hospitals to offload some of their needs.”

Another team member, Dr. Kristy Staples, said the location offers enough space to offer ancillary services on-site to serve patients better, rather than refer them to a second location.

“The funding allows us to have them on site,” she said.

Colleague Dr. Caitlin Schwartz added, “not everything will be available at the very beginning, but it will expand.”

Because the clinic will not treat off-the-street patients, residents who feel they could use their services are encouraged to sign up for a doctor.

“We’ll be doing two registering blitzes on Aug. 13 and 20 at 75 Larkin Drive,” said Matin, referring to the Larkin Park fieldhouse. “You can also pre-register online now, but actual registration forms will be available on those two dates as well as on opening day and afterwards.”

The sign for the clinic went up last week, adding to the pre-opening excitement of the team of doctors. A party will be held on-site for the ribbon-cutting on Aug. 26, with the first patients being seen on Aug. 29.

“I’m super excited – not only in the community underserved (with medical care), it’s also constantly expanding,” said Matin. “We think we can serve the community very well.”

swillems@theemc.ca

Posted: