New clinics will give Brampton residents much-needed access to a family doctor

More Brampton residents will have access to a family doctor and a healthcare team with the opening of two clinics at the TMU School of Medicine.

The TMU Integrated Health Centres (IHCs) are expected to reach 14,000 people in Brampton who need frontline primary care.

The flagship IHC is located within TMU’s recently opened School of Medicine in Brampton, in the former Bramalea Civic Centre at 150 Central Park Drive. A satellite clinic is also set to open in downtown Brampton at 74 Queen Street West.

Both new centres will open on Feb. 17 for registered patients.

Because of the shortfall of primary care (which is the first point of medical contact in Ontario, delivered by nurses, family doctors and other healthcare teams), Brampton residents often head to the hospital for treatment of minor medical issues. The new clinics are expected to relieve some of that pressure that has been experienced at hospital emergency departments.

These centres are expected to serve over 100,000 patient visits annually.

As well as university-affiliated clinics, the IHCs will provide learning experience for TMU medical students who will train in interprofessional, team-based settings alongside physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists and other health-care professionals.

The IHCs will also allow collaboration and expertise from schools and programs across TMU, including nursing, social work, midwifery, nutrition, psychology, health administration and biomedical engineering

“These critically needed clinics will strengthen TMU’s medical school curriculum, which is grounded in equity, social accountability and responsiveness to the evolving health needs of surrounding communities,” says Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, TMU provost and vice-president, academic and IHCs’ Board Chair. “They will also benefit from innovative teaching and research integration delivered by the medical school’s leading clinical faculty,” she said.

Brampton residents currently without a family doctor within the assigned catchment area are invited to register at the new clinics and can do so by following this link.

According to TMU information, in Peel Region, an estimated 430,000 residents are expected to be without a primary care doctor by next year.