Waiting list swells as clinic waits on word from ministry
Clinic submitted funding proposal last February to allow it to accept hundreds more patients without doctors
The Lakehead Nurse Practitioner-Led clinic hopes the New Year brings good news from the Ministry of Health: approval of a plan to accept hundreds more patients without doctors.
When Kristyn Lovato-Day started as a medical secretary at the clinic, it wasn't taking any new patients. Almost eight months later, she still receives two or three calls a day from people trying to get in.
"You hear all sorts of different stories and some of them are just awful," Lovato-Day said.
"And it's heart-wrenching to have to say no to so many people."
The waiting list has swollen to about 375 people.
"There have been a couple [of calls] that sounded really desperate," Lovato-Day continued.
"(But) usually by the time they get to us they seem to have resigned themselves to being on a lot of wait lists. So it's not that they're so upset anymore, it's more they just feel defeated."
Last February, the clinic submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Health to hire two more nurse practitioners, as well as support staff. The staffing increase would allow the clinic to take on 1,600 new patients.
Lead nurse practitioner Pam Delgaty said the ministry still hasn't said yes or no.
"We want to provide health care to as many patients as we can, because we know there's a need because we see it every day here," she said.
The clinic has the space to meet that need, Delgaty added. She said not having the nurse practitioners to fill it — while patients are stuck on a waiting list — is frustrating.