Patiently waiting… for a family doctor

Saturday morning, hundreds of people were lining up on a first-come, first-served basis to sign up with the new doctor at the Russell Medical Centre, Dr. Anna Boutillier.

The retirement of general practitioner Danielle DeBanné’s, after more than 20 years of practice, left 1700 patients with no doctor. The challenge now is that her replacement, Dr. Anna Boutillier is, by law, only able to take on 1200 of them.

A letter in June informed them that whoever wanted a spot on the new doctor’s roster would have to physically register in person at the Russell Medical Centre on September 9. “I haven’t done this since standing in line for Rolling Stones tickets, shared Russell Township councilor Cindy Saucier on her Facebook wall. Joking aside, this is a serious matter!”

Comments that followed her post were those of people with the existing resources. “I was told people were there at 3:30 a.m. We need more doctors for Russell and a new medical centre, said Russell resident Della Allen. We lost an amazing doctor. Dr. DeBanné is one in a million.”

Although Dr. DeBanné’s workload was overwhelming, as stated in her letter to transfer her practice to Boutillier, she is not impressed with the process and suggests that this matter be brought to higher levels. Among them, she suggests people get in touch with the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), whose mandate is to ensure health services are well-organized, appropriately funded, and meet the health needs of the region.

She also mentioned the Family Health Organization (FHO), an initiative of the Ontario Medical Association and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. A doctor’s FHO is a group of family physicians who are working together to give patients and their families better access to quality primary services.

As this is a growing concern in many parts of the province, in the meantime, the new Limoges Health Hub, set to officially open in October, is actually accepting new patients. Three family physicians have been meeting with their new patients and by the time the eight physicians come in, next spring, the Nation Health Centre (613 -714-9899), located at third floor, will be able to serve

—photo fournie Tandis que plusieurs se dirigeaient vers la foire de Russell samedi matin, plusieurs centaines de personnes faisaient la file afin de s’inscrire sur la liste du nouveau médecin de la clinique médicale de Russell, Dr Anna Boutillier. En effet, l’annonce...