A new health clinic opens today in Regent Park, a neighbourhood where thousands of people have no family doctor.

The Sumac Creek Health Team, a brand of St. Michael's Hospital, opens its doors in the downtown neighbourhood Monday morning. It's part of an effort to revitalize an area with social housing but few services available.

Image | Regent Park

Caption: A new six-acre park opened in Regent Park as part of the area's revitalization. This year, a health clinic has opened in an area where thousands don't have a doctor. (CBC)

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Twelve-hundred patients have already registered and appointments for the first day are full.

Dr. Danyaal Raza says the clinic should help an area that's underserved.

"People are still getting medical care, but most of the time they're getting it from a walk-in clinic, where they're seeing a different doctor every time they go in for care or sometimes they're waiting hours to get into the emergency room," he said.

As an added perk, a waiting room at the clinic includes shelves of children's books that patients can take home.

Jacqueline Chen, the clinical leader manager, says it's all connected to health.

"Children's literacy is really important in determining health outcomes in the future and it's really important that parents and caregivers of children introduce books fairly early in life," she said.