Crapaud's new walk-in clinic opens Tuesday

After a couple months of planning, a new walk-in clinic will open in Crapaud, P.E.I.,on Tuesday.

The clinic is located at the South Shore Pharmacy in Crapaud and will be open Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Residents of the community have longed forprimary care service since Dr. Joey Giordani, the village's only physician, leftCrapaudunexpectedly in November.

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Starting on Tuesday, they'll now have access to two doctors through the new clinic.

"There was overwhelming support by the community for a walk-in clinic to be here, righton the pharmacy grounds," said Ian Dennison, co-chair of the South Shore Health and Wellness Committee.

'It's so important to the community'

Shortly afterDr.Giordani'sdeparture,members of the communityheld a public meetingto plan how they wouldtackle the village's growing healthcare needs.

This eventually led to the creation of the South Shore Health and Wellness Committee.

Since that public meeting roughly 10 weeks ago, the committee's group of volunteers, as well as some concerned citizens,raised about $10,000 to establish a walk-in clinic at the pharmacy.

Lisa Gallant owns the pharmacy and is secretary on the committee. She converted an area in the back of her buildingfrom a storage space into the clinic's exam room and waiting area.

"It's so important to the community, so many people spoke at our public meeting at theCrapaudHall to say that's one of the reasons they moved to this community," Gallant said.

"You need to have certain essential servicesand medical care would be one of those things people look for."

Although the clinic opens for the first time this week, the committee said they're going to lobby government for a nurse practitioner. They also hope to expandthe clinic to more days per week.

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