Rainy River will be receiving a new clinic thanks to a partnership that will see a continuum of health care in the region, while expanding representation for Indigenous voices in local health care.
In a press release dated November 1, 2024, Riverside Health Care, along with Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre and the Town of Rainy River, announced they had come together in order to create the new Rainy River Clinic, which will be replacing the Rainy River Medical Clinic. The press release notes the partnership will bring “a collective voice representing the communities in Rainy River and surrounding area, Indigenous primary care, physicians, hospital and long-term care.”
Health care in Rainy River has been in the spotlight since August 2024, when the entire team of physicians at the clinic announced their resignations, though some said they would stay on longer than others in order to cover medical care in the area as long as possible. That extension would originally have lasted until the end of November 2024, at which point the town would have seen itself completely without doctors, which would have in turn impacted emergency room access. The letter released by the physicians pointed to “severe, long-term burnout” as one of the key reasons for the resignations, along with clashes with administration, a funding model they said wasn’t adapting to changing times, and past requests for assistance going unmet.
Riverside defended its workplace culture and staffing in early September, and subsequently announced on September 11, 2024, they had secured physician services in the municipality through to November 22, 2024, with scheduling of locum physicians ongoing to provide coverage for the remainder of the calendar year. The press release from September also said the organization was working and engaging with Ontario health to develop a permanent solution for Rainy River, which it said would aim to “address both hospital and primary care needs.”
The most recent joint press release does not clarify if this is the solution Riverside had originally been working on, but it says the new clinic will support “ongoing physician, primary care and hospital services for those in Rainy River and the surrounding area.
At Rainy River’s regular Committee of the Whole meeting held on Monday, November 4, 2024, mayor Deb Ewald said the new clinic will be overseen by a non-profit board made up of representatives from all three organizations.
“We’re looking at a non-profit board, and it’ll be made up of two members of Rainy River council and administration, two from the Riverside board, and one from the First Nation organization [Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre]. They deal with a lot of the First Nation medical, so all that really is the money that the Ministry of Health gave towards the Rainy River clinic in terms of supplies, staffing, it will all continue. Hopefully most of the staff will be staying. We’re not building a brand-new clinic building either, we’re using the existing building.”
The press release notes the staff from the Rainy River Medical Clinic will be offered new positions at the new clinic, with locum physicians continuing to be recruited “in order to ensure continuity of primary care/clinic and hospital physician services.” Riverside said its priority remains with recruiting permanent physicians to the community while working to ensure a smooth transition to the new clinic.
“Engagement with the Rainy River Medical Clinic is ongoing to ensure smooth transition of all current clinic patients to the new clinic,” Riverside said in the release.
“Further communication is forthcoming.”
The Times will continue to follow this story as it develops.
