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Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services hopes a new family care and mental health and addictions facility in Gander can attract more health-care professionals to the region.
The new Gander Community Health Centre is expected to open later this month, and will house the family care team for Gander and the Gander Bay region. The facility will also have mental health and addictions care.
Most of the roughly 50 staff members were recruited locally, but some positions are still being actively recruited, such as a nurse practitioner and a family physician.
“When you build it, they will come. And I’m a firm believer in that,” said Janet Morgan Little, the health authority’s central zone director for primary and rural health care.
“Seeing is believing. So I really hope that, you know, once we open and we see people come through, then we’ll be able to recruit providers.”
Mimie Carroll, the regional director for mental health and addictions services, said it’s exciting to be moving mental health care out of an acute care hospital setting.
“We want to create an environment where clients can come and feel comfortable about their care needs,” Carroll told CBC News.
“Home is best. And you know, we often refer to some of our services as [a] ‘hospital without walls.’ So essentially they come here, they receive their services, and then they’re able to go home, where it’s best for them.”
Mimie Carroll, left, and Janet Morgan Little of Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services. (Troy Turner/CBC)
The 20-year lease of the building comes at a cost of $24 million for the provincial government.
Morgan Little said patients can be paired with a family care provider through Patient Connect N.L., but those who aren’t connected can also avail of primary care services.
WATCH | Officials offered a tour of the new facility on Monday:
Primary care, mental health and addictions support will soon be under one roof in Gander
The new Gander Community Health Centre is expected to open to the public later this month. While some positions still need to be filled, N.L. Health Services hopes the new centre can attract the professionals it needs. The CBC’s Troy Turner reports.
The centre has also partnered with women and children’s health within NLHS to offer care for expecting mothers without a care provider.
“When moms are pregnant and they’re expecting, their needs are definitely higher. And we want to make sure that they’re taken care of,” Morgan Little said.
Similar facilities are in various stages of development across Newfoundland and Labrador, Morgan Little said. One is expected to open in the Bishop’s Falls area and in Grand Falls-Windsor.
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