New Primary Health-Care Centre in Middleton

A new, larger health-care centre in Middleton is now officially open.

Family physicians, nurses and staff from the Middleton Collaborative Practice moved into the new Soldiers Memorial primary health-care centre in mid-December and began seeing patients soon after that.

“The new Soldiers Memorial primary health-care centre better meets the needs of the community and the health-care professionals who work there,” said Premier Stephen McNeil. “It will also better support training for students, including medical residents, and help recruit new doctors and other health-care practitioners to work in this beautiful part of the province.”

The new health centre is about six times the size of the aging medical clinic that it replaces.

The new building has a larger registration and waiting area, more exam rooms and meeting rooms, new space for visiting health professionals and more space for training medical residents.

Quotes:

“We are excited and quickly settling into this new modern building. We have hit the ground running, and this month the additional space has already afforded us the privilege of hosting new learners, including a dietitian student, a nurse practitioner student, a social worker student, and a medical student. We are so very thankful for the capital investment that this government and community has supported and are hopeful it will help with recruitment of health-care providers to this wonderful community.”

– Dr. Leslie Ribeiro, Middleton Collaborative Practice

“It is truly heartening to see our local community rally around the new primary health-care centre. We are grateful for the support of our donors, community leaders, government, and our local health-care community for making this exciting project a reality. I expect the centre to be a catalyst in recruitment of physicians and other health-care providers to the Annapolis Valley.”

– Kelly Hutton, Chair of the Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation

Quick Facts:

• the new primary health-care centre is 12,600 square feet, about six times the size of the old clinic
• there are about 26 exam rooms, consultation and conference rooms, waiting room and administration space
• there is more space to train health professionals, including medical residents, which will help with recruitment
• the project was completed under budget at a cost of $10 million
• the Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation committed $1 million toward the cost
• health-care infrastructure is being improved across the province, with projects in various stages in Bridgewater, Halifax, Pugwash, Digby, Amherst and Cape Breton Regional Municipality, among others