The metro region’s Indigenous population will soon have a full-service clinic to call their own through a partnership with the province.
The Indigenous-led health clinic, due to open in the fall, will provide “culturally safe” health care and improved access to primary care, as well as mental health and addictions services.
It will be located within the new First Light headquarters being built on the site of the former St. Joseph’s Church on Quidi Vidi Road.
The province is contributing $185,000 to support non-medical staff for the clinic, while funding for a doctor and nurse practitioners will come from MCP and the Nurse Practitioner Funding Pilot.
Executive Director of First Light, Stacey Howse (VOCM News)
The funding and partnership was announced yesterday by Health Minister Lela Evans, along with First Light president and CEO Stacey Howse.
Howse said the project is about dignity, access and closing a gap that has existed for generations.
“This clinic means that urban, Indigenous people will finally have access to care that understands them, not just medically, but culturally, socially and historically,” she said. “This is not about exclusions, it is about ensuring that people who have been underserved finally have access to the right kind of care, and in doing that we will reduce pressure across the entire system.”
