New local medical clinic opens doors to public

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Country Plaza Medical Centre opened its doors to the public for the first time March 2, inviting the community to an open house for the new facility. 

Dr. Ola Akinremi explained the process of getting the new medical centre up and running was full of uncertainties; however, with the support and eagerness of the Town of Strathmore behind them, he was excited to finally make the announcement of the facility’s opening. 

“When I moved from the UK and I was working in Calgary, we were thinking of doing something and we just felt we wanted something that would take us closer to the community,” he said. “We were considering various communities, and we got to Strathmore and from Day 1 … there was a lot of touring around to find a suitable location and making sure we were welcomed to the community.”

Akinremi added the Town of Strathmore provided a $45,000 grant to the facility in order to aid in the capital challenges associated with opening a medical clinic. 

Currently, the facility will be operating with two physicians on staff. There is already a waiting list for those aiming to inquire about becoming regular patients. 

“We know that we definitely need a female clinician. It is not as if we cannot do women’s health, but understandably, women like women dealing with some of those intimate examinations and treatments,” said Akinremi. “We are hoping to get a female clinician very soon, and because we also want to hop on Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., then on Saturdays as well 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so really, we need that so that we don’t get burnout. We need more staff to be able to cover that period.”

The facility features eight examination rooms, as well as an attached pharmacy which will be operating with the same hours as the clinic in order to maximize convenience to patients.

The clinic will also readily serve patients who have their regular family doctors elsewhere with the express intent of increasing convenience, should a patient’s regular physician not be able to schedule them in when they need help. 

“We are not taking them over from their doctors, we just treat them and we just tell them to say hello to their doctor when they get back to them,” said Akinremi. 

Mayor Pat Fule expressed his excitement at the development of greater access for community members to local medical services. 

“We had heard from a longstanding doctor that there was a medical crisis in Strathmore with a shortage of general practitioners. When I was contacted by a few groups of doctors, I just jumped into action and tried to do my part to welcome them, to show then that Strathmore needs and wants them as doctors,” he said. “We are thrilled that we could support them with a grant, and that helps in the startup of a new clinic with renovations, whatever else their needs might be as far as setting up.”

Akinremi explained the clinic would be officially open to the public following Monday’s open house as of Wednesday, March 4.