As of this week, a second nurse practitioner has joined the Brock Community Health Centre team on a full-time basis to help community members receive the care they require.

Janet McPherson, Executive Director of the Brock Community Health Centre (CHC), says their team at the Beaverton Thorah Health Centre has included one full-time nurse practitioner for more than a year, and a second nurse practitioner, on a part-time basis, since April. As of this week, she says the second nurse practitioner has increased her involvement to full-time. This improvement, she says, will make it easier to address the needs of the community, particularly since the retirement of Dr. Fran McCordic.

“The reality is it takes a lot of time to bring those patients on board,” says McPherson.

“It’s a managed waitlist.”

McPherson says priority will be given to patients who are ill or those who were patients of Dr. McCordic, who retired at the end of 2016.

Other individuals in need of a family doctor can call 705-426-4636 and asked to be added to the waitlist.

In addition to the two nurse practitioners, the Beaverton Thorah Health Centre also hosts the Brock Geriatric Assessment Program, the Diabetes Education Program and a social worker.

The Beaverton location, at 468 Main St., is one of two locations at which the Brock CHC offers care for the public. They also operate the Primary Health Care Program at 64 Cameron St. East, Cannington.

By sharing the services between the two locations, the Brock CHC is able to offer greater care to the public.

They also conduct outreach in Sunderland, says McPherson.

According to their website, Brock CHC is a non-profit organization and  “a community health service for residents of Brock Township and surrounding areas, an area in Ontario where, by all accounts, there has been an inadequate range of primary health services available for many years.  Community advocacy by a committed group of local residents resulted in the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care providing funding for a community health centre for Brock Township residents in late 2007.”

For more information about Brock CHC and the services they provide, call McPherson at 705-432-3322 or visit www.brockchc.ca. You can also click here to view the Brock CHC Program-Activity Calendar for September 2017.