Wakefield medical clinic closes, leaving 12,000 to relocate

A long-standing medical practice in Wakefield, Que., closed for good on Saturday after years of struggling with staff shortages, CBC News reported.

Staff told CBC when the closure was announced that “heavy staffing losses and a severely diminished team” contributed to the decision. They said most of the clinic’s 12,000 patients would be able to follow their family doctors to nearby clinics. Quebec’s health-services directory also lists the Wakefield family medicine group as ceasing operations on Nov. 1, 2026.

According to Radio-Canada, the only patients left without a doctor are those who were under the care of a physician who retired. Patients are being transferred to nearby clinics, including the Clinique médicale des Collines.

Marcel Chartrand, co-president of the community group Vigi Santé des Collines, said the relocation is good news but does not address wider concerns about the physician shortage in western Quebec. “It still leaves quite a number of patients without a doctor,” he said.

Chartrand estimated there are more than 6,000 “orphaned” patients in the Collines-de-l’Outaouais regional county municipality alone. He said they will be prioritized when a clinic in Chelsea, which the group helped start, opens next year.

The group is also trying to recruit doctors by hosting events for medical students from McGill University’s Outaouais campus and the University of Ottawa. “There has been a lot of interest,” Chartrand said, adding that what the region needs is more doctors. “We want them to recognize that there’s a lack of funding in the Outaouais,” he said. “It’s been like this for the past 15 years.”

Health care remains a pressure point for Quebec’s new government. Canada News Media has also reported on slow flu and COVID vaccine supply at Quebec pharmacies and on the premier’s planned meeting with the prime minister.

Sources: CBC News, Quebec health-services directory.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.