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Two walk-in clinics in the Halifax Regional Municipality are slated for closure later this year, and the company running them says it is due to high rent.
The Family Focus Medical Clinics said in a statement to CBC News that the clinic at 240 Baker Dr. in Dartmouth, will close on November 30.
The clinic at 5991 Spring Garden Road, in Halifax, will close December 31.
Family Focus clinics said renewing the leases at these locations would have required “a significant cost increase under a multi-year commitment.”
The company said it couldn’t sustain the cost increase.
“We fully support the province’s long-term goal of attaching every Nova Scotian to a family provider,” read the statement from Family Focus.
“However, in light of rising costs and shifts in healthcare models, funding, and delivery, we need to reevaluate and adapt.”
The company says physicians continuing in practice with The Family Focus Clinics are relocating to other locations within the group, while those moving to independent practices will provide their own notice to patients.
Walk-in services will be consolidated at The Family Focus Sackville clinic on 667 Sackville Drive.
Darrin Kitchen, the senior director of operations for The Family Focus Medical Clinics, said in a statement that closures of locations are always hard decisions.
“Any time access to care is reduced or a new barrier introduced, it is felt by the people who need it most,” he said.
“Consolidating our sites is what allows us to remain sustainable and continue serving the tens of thousands of patients across the HRM and beyond who rely on us.”
The walk-in clinic in Dartmouth is in the same building as a Lawtons pharmacy. (Brian MacKay/CBC)
Amanda MacDonald Green, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, said the priority is always finding family doctors. But while that work is being done, walk-in clinics help bridge the gap.
In the last few years, she said access to more options aside from walk-in clinics for single-visit issues have appeared. That includes family doctors, pharmacies, mobile clinics, and virtual care.
However, some people will still fall through the cracks.
“There would be people that do not have attachment to a family physician and for transportation issues or otherwise. This is their point of contact,” said MacDonald Green.
“And so for those people … I’m sure it must be very scary for them not to have that point of access.”
Staying connected
Nova Scotia Health, which is not affiliated with the walk-in clinics, said it is working on connecting Nova Scotians to family doctors or nurse practitioners.
In a statement, the health authority said that, as of Sept. 1, there are 1,433 Nova Scotians in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network who are active on the Need a Family Practice Registry.
Another 4,271 people in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto community health network are on the registry.
The health authority listed several resources for people affected by the closures including:
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