Longstanding Wakefield Family Medical Centre to close, Santé Quebec says

Longstanding Wakefield Family Medical Centre to close, Santé Quebec says

Practice opened decades ago and has served as a teaching site too

The Wakefield Family Medical Centre, a practice with deep roots in a western Quebec community north of Ottawa, will soon close its doors, according to Quebec's public health agency.

"We [can] confirm that the clinic will be closing," Santé Quebec said via email Wednesday.

The centre has been operating in Wakefield, Que., located about 35 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, since the 1970s. It's also a teaching site for McGill University, regularly hosting medical students and residents, according to the medical centre's website.

CBC has reached out to the clinic for comment.

Santé Quebec told CBC in French it has been working closely with the medical centre for months "to support efforts to maintain access to medical services in the territory and limit the impact on patients."

"For doctors who will continue their practice in the Les Collines-de-l’Outaouais territory, their patients will continue to be cared for by them. Therefore, the closure of the clinic does not automatically result in a loss of continuity of care for patients who remain registered with these doctors," Santé Quebec wrote.

In cases where a doctor ends their practice or is no longer able to provide follow-up care for their patient list, affected patients can register with the province's Québec Family Doctor Finder, the agency added.

New medical centre slated for 2027

Marcel Chartrand, co-president of the community group Vigi Santé des Collines, said news of the coming closing was shocking, especially given ongoing efforts to attract more doctors to the area.

He estimated that while there are fewer than 15 family doctors serving the area, it could stand to have a number closer to 25.

A new medical centre in Chelsea, slated to open next year, "will absorb quite a large number of patients like myself who do not have a doctor," Chartrand told Radio-Canada. "So that'll help."