Nurse practition clinic has space for more patients

The Oxford Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic is expected to open later this year, or early next year. Staff have been hired, the building permit has been issued and construction has started. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

The good news keeps getting better with the upcoming opening of a nurse practitioner-led clinic scheduled for later this year, or early 2027.

The Oxford County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic was announced at the end of April as part of a plan to connect more than 13,000 people to primary care in Oxford County. It will be located in the two empty units in the North Gate Plaza.

Changes have already started in preparation for the opening. First, the name was changed to the Oxford County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic at the end of July. It was formerly called the Ingersoll Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, as it operated only in Ingersoll until a satellite Tillsonburg Unattached Care Clinic opened last year. The unattached clinic was originally funded by the Town of Tillsonburg, with support from Oxford OHT members, including the Ingersoll Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Roulston’s Pharmacy – Tillsonburg, Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital, and the Thames Valley Family Health Team.

The second big change took effect on Sept. 8 and saw the Tillsonburg Unattached Care Clinic transition to the Oxford County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic (ONPLC). 

“All patients previously seen at the TUCC who wanted to be attached to the OCNPLC are now permanently attached to the clinic,” said executive director Stephanie Nevins. “We will continue to work out of the co-located space within Roulston’s Pharmacy until construction is completed at our new clinic, which will be located next door to Roulston’s.”

In simple terms, this means anyone who was a patient in the unattached clinic will automatically become a rostered patient at the new ONPLC. It also means people without a primary care coordinator can no longer make appointments at the clinic.

Nevins explained, “With the recent provincial investment into Primary Care teams in Oxford, there is now capacity for patients to become attached to a primary care provider.”

So instead of coming to the clinic as an unattached patient, residents can fill out the online registration at www.onplc.caand become patients there. Between the Ingersoll and Tillsonburg sites, the clinic will have room for more than 6,300 patients who previously didn’t have a primary health care provider. 

Nevins said those who live closer to Ingersoll can register at that site, or register with the Thames Valley Family Health Team, which also has capacity. Residents can also continue to wait on the Health Care Connect wait list, or remain without a health care provider. 

“Many options continue to exist throughout Oxford to support this choice, such as walk-in clinics, and regional options like Virtual Care Ontario” Nevins said. 

The Tillsonburg site will host five nurse practitioners when fully opened. Nevins said all have been hired and are already seeing patients at either the Tillsonburg or Ingersoll sites. Construction of the new expanded clinic is on schedule.