Médisanté, located at Centre communautaire Samuel-de-Champlain in Millidgeville, has been a dream of the Francophone community for many years. That dream is about to become a reality with the opening of the new facility on Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

A project on which members of Association Régionale de la Communauté francophone de Saint-Jean Inc. (ARCf) have been working since 2003, the new Centre will begin to serve the needs of the francophone community by offering wellness programs in early February.

Michel Côté executive director with ARCf, is pleased with the initiative. "We conducted a survey in 2001 that demonstrated that a health centre that could meet the needs of the francophone community was an identified priority. With some funding from Health Canada (Société Santé en Français) and a new partnership with the Department of Health and St. Joseph's Community Health Centre part of Zone 2 Saint John, Regional Health Authority B - we are more than ready to celebrate our success. We will be starting slowly with specific wellness programs but we are here to serve the needs of our community and are open to any suggestions for programming they would like to see," said Côté.

Dawn-Marie Buck, Director for Extra-Mural Programs and Community Health Centres in Zone 2 was eager to emphasize the opportunities for other departments and agencies. "We are eager to work with other groups to promote available programs to the Francophone community,” Buck noted. "We expect to use Telehealth to access programs or expertise available in other centres or other parts of the province." We are currently recruiting a Family Medicine Physician, Nurse Practitioner as well as a community developer to add to the current complement of a Nurse and Administrative Support.

The Centre is accepting names of patients without a Family Medicine Physician who wish to receive care in French so that once a Physician is recruited, a patient roster will be available.

Normal hours of operation will be 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with evening and/or weekend wellness programs planned to meet demand. Individuals without a Family Medicine Physician who prefer health services in French may call 648-8020 to have their names added to the Médisanté registry.

Proposed programs at Médisanté

Calendar of Events

Last Modified:04.15.2009