Crapaud clinic announces plans for expansion

The medical clinic in Crapaud, on P.E.I.'s South Shore, is adding a new service and planning an expansion.

Starting Aug. 27, a nurse practitioner will be available at the clinic every Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. That service will be in addition to doctor's clinics on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Crapaud has been without a local doctor since Dr. Joey Giordani relocated to Cornwall, a 20-minute drive away, early this year.

That departure led to the creation of the South Shore Health and Wellness Committee with the aim of improving local health services. It raised money to create a small clinic in the back of the South Shore Pharmacy in Crapaud.

Making space for more health services

In addition to the new NP clinic, the committee announced it will build a new 1,500 square-footfacility.

"[It's] a very positive first step," said committee co-chair Mike Connolly.

"We want to provide as much health-care service as we can. That's the first step in a larger plan. We'd like to have a collaborative health-care model out here with a doctor, two nurse practitioners, and alternate services beside that, such as physio."

Those services could include a registered nurse to provide guidance on the care of chronic conditions. Connolly said the committee has permission from the Health Department to go out and recruit a doctor for the clinic.

Fundraising campaign

The committee has signed a lease agreement for the expansion and expects construction to start soon. A fundraising campaign to pay for the project will also be launched in the near future.

"We are hoping that the government will come in and help with some of that cost," said Connolly.

"They do it in other jurisdictions so we are going by that model. We're hoping that between the committee and the government we can make it a permanent, stable facility."

The group aims to provide health services for the 8,000 Islanders who live between Cornwall and Summerside.

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