Dieppe Opens New Clinic for Children Under 5 Lacking Family Doctor

A new clinic for young children without a family doctor opened Monday in Dieppe. The clinic will serve nearly 2,000 children under the age of five in the Beauséjour health zone, according to Vitalité Health Network. The zone includes Greater Moncton and stretches from Richibucto to Sackville. Stéphanie Roy, the vice-president of health and community services for Vitalité, said the clinic will do assessments for growth, weight, head circumference as well as motor, cognitive and social development. The clinic will also assess eating, sleep and hygiene habits. According to a news release from the network, the clinic will treat common health issues, such as fever, cough, ear infections, respiratory infections, rashes, digestive disorders and conjunctivitis. Children can also be followed for conditions, such as asthma, eczema or allergies, it said. Roy said when a newborn is discharged from the hospital without a family doctor, they can be referred to the clinic by the doctor at the hospital. “If a parent calls the clinic and does not have a referral, we're going to find a way to have a referral for that family,” she said. Prior to the opening of the clinic, the service was being offered through N.B. Health Link, but Roy said having it under the responsibility of Vitalité will get the clinic closer to existing teams within the network. “We expect to match [the children] when they reach the age of five with local family health teams so they don't fall out with no primary-care providers,” said Roy.