INSIDE
Local clinic? No worries, mate

By Meg Olson

The community had little to offer in the way of complaints or praise at a hospital district town hall meeting, where only two of those attending were not associated with either the founding or the current operation of the Point Roberts Aydon Wellness Clinic.

“If you have anything to share or anything to ask, suggestions, comments or questions,” offered district commissioner Barbara Bradstock. “Are there any services or needs the clinic is not providing?” asked commissioner Victor Riley.

Irene Waters, a member of the Pioneer Group that ushered in the founding of the clinic, asked about more mobile services coming to Point Roberts, such as the dental van that attended the clinic’s opening.
“If there was a need for a particular service possibly we could see about joining with other small communities,” said nurse–practitioner Virginia Lester. Lester explained some mobile services were already available and could be called upon if community need arose.

Most attending the meeting celebrated the success of the local primary care facility.

“It’s what I expected and more,” said Waters. ”Our community rates very highly when it comes to what we can do on our own.” Starting with Ed Aydon collecting aluminum cans, local donations and lobbying qualified the project for a federal grant that led to the opening of the clinic in June 2003.

“As a newcomer I’m awfully glad to have a primary care facility here,” said Mark Robbins. Robbins said he felt the clinic’s service should be expanded to include a pharmacy, and learned it already did. “We order it in,” Lester said, if she doesn’t have the medication on-hand. “The only problem is if they need a narcotic or they need to have it right away.”

Riley said many in the community were not aware of the breadth and variety of services the clinic can offer, including any service one would go to a family doctor for and laboratory services. “People still wonder what a nurse-practitioner can do,” Lester said. In an office setting, a nurse-practitioner can perform the same services a physician can. “I don’t go to a hospital and I don’t perform surgery,” Lester said.

Robbins suggested the clinic and the Blue Heron Van program could work together, increasing use of both public resources. “There are a number of routine screenings people should be getting and people on the Point might not be getting them because of the hassle,” Riley agreed. “Maybe a special van trip could help.”

Robbins asked if the patient load was commensurate with the cost of running the clinic and was told that the district was and would continue to collect taxes to support the facility. “The clinic is being utilized but it still has room to grow,” Bradstock said. “One of the things we’re working on is getting the word out.” Commissioner Dick Williams added the district was preparing a brochure to better explain what the clinic had to offer.

Commissioners concluded by inviting the public to attend the regular hospital district meetings on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the community center on Gulf Road.