RRC Polytech will host Manitoba’s first clinic dedicated to screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms, a condition that often goes undetected until it becomes life-threatening.
The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Clinic is set to open in spring 2026 at the college’s Notre Dame Campus in Winnipeg. The service is being delivered in partnership with QDoc and will focus on early detection using point-of-care ultrasound.
“You often don’t feel an AAA until it’s too late,” Taft Micks, chief medical officer at QDoc said in a release. “These things expand and expand, and eventually at some point it ruptures and that can be quite fatal.”
Micks said the idea for the clinic was developed alongside Alexei Berdnikov, a family and emergency physician with QDoc, building on the use of ultrasound in emergency departments to detect aneurysms in symptomatic patients.
The clinic aims to shift that approach toward prevention by identifying aneurysms before symptoms appear.
According to the Canadian Task Force for Preventive Health Care, about 20,000 Canadians are diagnosed with an AAA each year, with more than 1,200 deaths attributed to the condition. The risk is highest among men over 65, particularly those with a history of smoking, as well as individuals with high blood pressure, heart disease or a family history of aneurysms.
As planning for the clinic progressed, Micks said he has heard from many people who have lost family members to the condition, reinforcing the need for broader screening.
“RRC Polytech is a partner for innovation here because what we are implementing is very novel,” he said.
RRC Polytech will provide space for the clinic, which will operate by appointment. Patients can self-refer by phone, be referred by a primary care provider, or complete a virtual intake through QDoc to determine eligibility.
During appointments, physicians will review risk factors, conduct a physical exam and use point-of-care ultrasound to examine the abdominal aorta. Results will be available immediately, along with follow-up recommendations if needed.
Jodi Pluchinski, director of safety, health and security services at RRC Polytech, said the partnership aligns with the institution’s role in supporting community health initiatives.
“For us, saying yes was an easy decision,” Pluchinski said. “It’s about being a really good community partner and providing that service for people.”
The clinic marks the latest expansion of RRC Polytech’s partnership with QDoc, which began in 2022 with the launch of a penicillin allergy clinic. The collaboration has also included student involvement in developing QDoc’s virtual care platform through the college’s ACE Project Space.
Officials say the partnership has created new career pathways for graduates, particularly in information technology and business administration, while aligning with existing training programs in diagnostic medical and cardiac sonography.
Pluchinski said each initiative has built on the last, with expectations that the new clinic will follow a similar trajectory.
“We didn’t expect the Penicillin Allergy Clinic to become something we do regularly, but it has,” she said. “And this will be the same.”
