Norfolk healthcare providers working together to serve residents

Article content

With the number of Ontarians without a family doctor eclipsing 2.3 million, steps are being taken in Norfolk County to continue to serve residents’ healthcare needs. 

Article content

Article content

Recommended Videos

Article content

The independently owned Roulston’s Pharmacy, a fixture in Simcoe since 1933, has been operating a Wellness Centre on Donly Drive for a dozen years, dispensing much more than prescriptions.  

Flanking the pharmacy is a lab, an X-ray service, six medical offices housing about 10 family doctors, various specialists, and several nurse practitioners. Most evenings, an after-hours clinic is open to patients of a group of doctors. There is also a home health area that sells and rents medical supplies, and a service that provides medication dispensing and packaging to local long-term care and retirement homes. 

“We’ve become a bit of a hub for medical needs,” said Mark Stephens, co-owner of the Roulston’s chain, which includes six pharmacies, among them a newly opened location in Tillsonburg. “It’s important to address local doctor shortages by trying to bring prescribers close to the pharmacy. We also serve as navigators for patients, helping them find services even if they’re not on-site here.” 

Article content

Information provided by Workforce Health Ontario in 2023 showed Norfolk County had fewer primary care physicians per 100,000 people than the provincial average, and 17 per cent of residents didn’t have a family doctor.  

At the same time, more than 20 per cent of primary care physicians were over age 60, and 21 per cent of Norfolk residents were patients of those aging doctors. 

Last October, the Norfolk Family Health Team officially opened its new 10,000-square-foot, $6-million space on Robinson Street in Simcoe, after moving from its longtime home in Delhi.  

The organization has a roster of about 12,000 patients served by an interdisciplinary team of more than 50 that includes family physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, registered nurses, social workers, dieticians, and kinesiologists who work together to provide primary care.   

Article content

The facility also has community outreach for programs such as foot care, chronic non-cancer pain management, smoking cessation, sexual health, healthy eating, and prenatal and newborn health. They’ve recently introduced an Aging Well program and expanded midwifery services. 

One of the health team’s priorities is attracting and mentoring family doctors. 

“We currently have high school, nurse practitioner, midwifery, registered nurses, PSW students and others engaged in learning at the clinic,” said Roxanne Pierssens-Silva, interim executive director of the Norfolk Family Health Team. “This not only benefits them but also creates a strong pipeline of future healthcare providers for the region. The goal is keeping these learners in Norfolk to continue building long-term healthcare stability for the community.” 

Article content

Last December, Norfolk County council committed $106,000 to Norfolk General Hospital to help fund its doctor recruitment efforts. The money will be used to hire a full-time recruiter who will attend job fairs in Ontario and beyond. 

Council also committed $144,000 for future physician recruitment activities pending the outcome of the province’s Primary Care Action Team, which has a goal to connect every Ontario resident to a primary care physician over the next five years, done, in part, by expanding the number of seats at medical schools. 

Lori Yeo, building administrator for the Delhi Community Health Centre, is hoping to attract family doctors and travelling specialists to its facility on the town’s Main Street.  

Article content

Yeo recently used a $100,000 donation from the Delhi La Salette Knights of Columbus to renovate and expand the centre’s public walk-in clinic, which is open to all, including those without a family doctor. Because many walk-in clinics in Ontario are open only to that clinic’s own patients, people often head to hospital emergency departments seeking care.  

Since the renovations, the number of days the revamped Delhi clinic is open has doubled from two to four.  

“The community seems to be thrilled they have this other option,” said Yeo. “We have people coming in from Norfolk, Elgin and Oxford (counties).” 

But with just a single doctor covering all the walk-in clinic hours, Yeo is hoping to recruit additional physicians so they can be open seven days a week.  

Article content

Like the other groups, one of the Norfolk Family Health Team’s priorities is attracting and mentoring family doctors. Dr. Bill Thorogood, who has been with the organization since its inception, said they have been successful in working with medical students who stay on after they graduate.  

Stephens said it’s all about teamwork. Roulston’s Pharmacy representatives sit on various boards and committees with other local healthcare providers to work toward common goals and avoid duplicating services. 

The Roulston’s pharmacies also provide a workplace for students and interns. Stephens said they currently employ several pharmacy school students with the hope that they’ll stay in Norfolk after they graduate.  

Article content

“It’s part of the strategy of continuing the legacy of Roulston’s Pharmacy,” he said.  

At the same time, Norfolk General Hospital is developing its vision for its future.  

In January 2024, hospital officials announced they were seeking a community donation of land in Simcoe to build new state-of-the-art hospital and nursing home facilities. They said they needed at least 25 acres to establish a “comprehensive campus of care” that would allow the hospital and nursing home to continue being located together, with enough space for other health services.  

Norfolk General Hospital, which officially opened in 1925 and has been expanded several times, is now landlocked on all sides with little opportunity for growth. 

Article content

In January 2023, the provincial government announced the Norfolk Hospital Nursing Home, built in 1975, would be torn down and replaced with a new long-term care facility offering many more beds. An update on the nursing home’s website said an exact start date for construction remains uncertain.  

Over five weeks we are chronicling our community’s place in the country, the promise of greater prosperity, and the blueprint to get there. See the How Canada Wins series intro here and other related local stories here and here.

AROUND THE REGION

Woodstock: Setting their ‘sites’ on quality of life

Brantford: ‘Exciting time’ for city hospital and community

London: Memo to city hall – Get behind big-vision Londoners

St. Thomas: Ambitions go back to the future in former railway capital

Strathroy-Caradoc: Playing a trump card from a reshuffled deck

Sarnia-Lambton: An aging population, a young talent pool to tap

Chatham-Kent: A devastating blast, a model for smalltown revitalization

Windsor: Invest WindsorEssex key to building pathway to ‘generational’ prosperity

Stratford: Setting the stage for a year-round tourist economy

Article content