New nurse practitioner office in Breslau gets Ontario cash to bring health care to growing community

A new nurse practitioner-led medical office will offer people in Breslaumore options for health care closer to home.

Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris announced on Friday that the Ontario government would provide $910,660 annually for the clinic.

Breslau has seen a lot of growth of new homes in the past several years. A new school was recently announced for the community.

Heather Cross is a nurse and board chair for the clinic, which will be called Breslau Commons. She saidshe grew up in the town and has watched it grow.

"It has been our passion to deliver high quality primary care close to home," she said Friday during a news conference.

"I know what it's like to live in a town and sort of be geographically isolated, where everything is actually a trip to get something done. So there's advantages to living out there, but access to primary health care out there is very important."

Paula Carere, clinical lead of the Waterloo Region Nurse Practitioner-Led Cinic, said the Breslau office will be similar to a family health team or community health-care centre where they'd have patients who are registered with them, and the work is "very parallel to family physician office."

A doctor will also be available for consulting, Carere said.

Close to home

Harris said when he's in the townships in Waterloo region, one of the top concerns he hears from people is the need to have health care closer to their homes.

He said Friday's weather, which resulted in schools being closed throughout the region, was a good example of why there needs to be health-care options in more rural areas of the region.

"I think when you look at the way that Waterloo region is growing, you're seeing a lot more growth on the east side," he said. "For people to be able to move into a new community or people that are already in an existing community, being able to access high-quality health care is very important for them."