Dr. Jane Hosdil knows the new medical centre here is a great asset to the community, but personally, it also represents an opportunity for some overdue and well-deserved rest.
Hosdil, who has served patients in the Guelph-Eramosa area for almost 40 years, said the hiring of two new doctors by the East Wellington Family Health Team (EWFHT) will allow her to take on “a very reduced role.”
Her patient roster numbered upwards of 2,300 in recent years – far more than most family physicians – yet she still views the change with mixed feelings.
“It will be nice to not be quite as busy, but I will have to adapt to many changes,” she said last weekend at the grand opening for the new clinic at the corner of Alma Street (Highway 7) and Inkerman Street.
Mayor Chris White said Hosdil has made a remarkable contribution to the local community, serving as its only family physician for years.
“The fact that she remained on when she was ready to retire was an enormous help,” White said, adding Hosdil likely helped attract the new doctors. “If she had have left a few years ago, this entire process would have been very tough.”
The Family Health Team occupies about 6,450 square feet of the 12,000 square foot building, which EWFHT Executive Director Michelle Karker calls a “beautiful” facility.
“It’s a very exciting day for Rockwood and the surrounding community,” Karker said.
She told the Advertiser she heard nothing but positive comments about the new FHT clinic, which she hopes will soon recruit one more full-time doctor to complement new doctors Alejandra Marin and Elionora Sofronova.
Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott said everyone involved with the opening of the building deserves credit for their dedication and commitment.
“This has been truly a community effort, uniting professionals, volunteers, service organizations, donors and local government,” Arnott said.
White called the new building a “game changer” for the local community.
“This is big, right across the board, on multiple angles,” he said. In addition to the obvious benefits of improving local health care, the mayor said the new building:
– serves as “an economic anchor,” because people now staying in the community to see their doctor may also eat and shop there, as opposed to doing so outside of the township;
– “cleans up” an important corner of downtown Rockwood;
– could help create partnerships in the future (with organizations offering seniors programs); and
– will help grow the municipality’s industrial and commercial base (because companies, like prospective residents, look for communities with good schools and good medical facilities).
White added the medical centre caps off efforts started by past councils to improve local emergency and health care services – including the new fire hall, OPP building and ambulance bay.
He said a lot of the credit should go to EWFHT president Erik Stern, who first lobbied council to improve the doctor situation in the area.
However, Stern, who has worked on plans for the new building for about five years, is quick to deflect much of the credit to others, including the team’s six member board and its six member volunteer committee.
He also said a lot of credit should go to Hosdil, Guelph-Eramosa council and staff, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and local service clubs, firefighters, businesses and individuals who donated funds.
“This is an excellent example of a private-public partnership,” Stern said, adding it’s important not to forget the generosity of Coldpoint Holdings Limited.
Coldpoint built the $1.3-million centre and will lease the township land for $1 annually over the next 25 years, after which the entire building will become the property of the township.
The goal for the FHT, Stern noted, is to serve about 4,000 patients at the new building. Combined with a new medical centre in Erin, the EWFHT will eventually provide 12,000 people with a local doctor, he added.
Not surprisingly, local residents are asking when and where they can sign up, but Stern said that likely will not happen until the spring, when officials will take out Newspaper advertisements to that effect.
First, he explained, the FHT must transfer over Hosdil’s patients. And not surprisingly, Hosdil is committed to easing the transition.
“I wanted to stay on to help with everything,” she said. “I needed to make sure their were successors for me and the only way that could happen is with a larger building. And I’m very pleased that has happened.”
