Nurse practitioner eases college student medical access

Holland Colleges first nurse practitioner will make it easier for students struggling to find a family doctor.

The nurse practitioner will offer a walk-in clinic once every two weeks on the Charlottetown campus, starting next week.

The need is becoming more and more for our students, said student union general manager Greg Gairns.

It's very difficult for students from off-Island to get a doctor or even students from here to have a doctor. So we decided to bring in the nurse practitioner in to make that service even easier for them.

Sometimes students go without medical treatment, said Gairns. He expects the NP will be busy.

This is a one year pilot project with Health PEI for now, but the college hopes to see it expand to more days and more campuses.