聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Five years ago, on May 3, the Arcola Family Health Clinic opened its doors in a new building. They had been located in the basement of the hospital previously, but the ratio of doctors needed to operate the hospital was limited by the size of this facility.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 With a need of three or four doctors to make the hospital feasible, it became evident that a larger clinic was needed. In response to this need, the Moose Mountain Health Care Corporation decided to establish a new model of rural practicing which would benefit not only the patients, but the physicians as well.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Between 2009 and 2010, individuals began actively seeking out communities that would be interested in funding the project. Ultimately by having more communities dedicated to the Arcola Family Health Clinic, the number of physicians would remain strong and the hospital could continue to function.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In the end the Town of Arcola, Town of Lampman, Town of Stoughton, R.M. of Brock, R.M. of Moose Mountain, R.M. of Tecumseh, R.M. of Moose Creek, and the R.M. of Browning would come together to form the Corporation.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 With the dedication of these eight municipal governments, the volunteers on the corporation now focus on ensuring the physicians have a diverse and gratifying work environment while being able to balance their work and personal lives.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Town of Arcola and the R.M. of Brock own the current building, which opened on May 3, 2010, splitting it in a 40/60 ratio. Together they also pay for capital expenditures.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The old clinic below the hospital was then changed into a small suite for doctors to use while they are on-call. Sun Country was the main funder in making this change it, and it was the Health Corp. that spearheaded the project and also raised funds to assist.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now the Health Corp also runs outposts in Lampman and Stoughton, and they are also opening a walk-in clinic on White Bear at the Medical Office from 12-4 on Tuesdays to better meet the needs of people in the area.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Additionally with the support of the communities, the Arcola Family Health Clinic has grown over the last five years. One of their main goals was to provide quality service to a rural area and because of this they have acquired a pulmonary lung function machine, cardiac halter monitor, and a blood pressure halter monitor. Instead of having to send patients to the city for these tests, they can now be done in Arcola while sending the information to Regina and speaking with a specialist as needed.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The clinic also has fetal heart monitors and Sheila Sim, with the Health Corp., explained that they have a very good prenatal program in Arcola.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Also offered is a diabetic clinic every month focusing on wellness and living with diabetes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Currently doctors working in Arcola include Dr. Morin, Dr. Khan, Dr. Bimesl, and Dr. Mona Ali. All are taking new patients.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sim also went on to say, 鈥淥ur models have the doctors able to take time with each patient because they鈥檙e not seeing large numbers every day. We have a wellness model which means you don鈥檛 just come here for one ailment, the doctors look at all the health issues you may be experiencing and you talk about your whole health. They take the time to do that.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The idea of the clinic is in fact to provide total family care to people in need for the surrounding communities.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It hasn鈥檛 been easy over the years, with doctor shortages affecting their abilities during past years, but they are currently staffed with a total of four physicians and are excited for the future.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thankful for the volunteers that continue on the Health Corp. and to all the individuals and businesses that have contributed to the creation and success of the clinic, Sim said that none of this would be possible without them.
