Corunna celebrates new medical lab

A new medical laboratory in Corunna may be a game changer for Matt Clifford’s patients, who’ve had to travel to other communities for testing in recent years. The family doctor and one of five investors in the year-old St. Clair Medical Centre recalls years ago starting petitioning for a medical laboratory to move to the [...]

Article content A new medical laboratory in Corunna may be a game changer for Matt Clifford’s patients, who’ve had to travel to other communities for testing in recent years. The family doctor and one of five investors in the year-old St. Clair Medical Centre recalls years ago starting petitioning for a medical laboratory to move to the St. Clair Township community, after another closed. Recommended Videos “I always thought it was backwards to take away services like this from a community such as Corunna,” he said.

“It really forced an elderly population to have to drive to Sarnia to get bloodwork done, or go to Petrolia or Wallaceburg. “Those drives and those commutes for somebody who is 80 or 90 years old, it’s a significant trek,” he said. His and others’ advocacy was critical, officials said, in Dynacare – the Brampton-based company with more than 170 sites across Canada – moving to the community.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting was Friday, in the Corunna medical centre. “It’s a big deal,” said St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar, who said he’s also been interested in bringing medical lab services back since Corunna lost them about six years ago. The township put about $150,000 towards the Dynacare project’s construction costs, he said, funded from the $250,000 the township received from Hydro One for the 64-kilomtre, $472-million St. Clair Transmission Line Project, from the old Lambton generating station site to the Chatham switching station.

“There’s nothing more important than the health and welfare of your residents,” Agar said about council’s investment decision. The lab “serves the whole township,” and is vital for an elderly population needing service closer to home, he said. “We are proud to welcome Dynacare to St. Clair Township, and look forward to the positive impact this facility will have for years to come.”

The laboratory and health services centre employs two, with a third starting soon, regional manager Christine Kropf said. Uptake has been surprisingly strong since the doors opened earlier this week, said Dynacare CEO Vito Ciciretto, estimating more than a dozen patients per day are already making use of the about 1,500-square-foot (139-square-metre) facility. “It tells me the demand is there, the need is there,” he said.

Capacity is about 120 patients per day, he said, noting opening the Corunna site fits the company’s strategy of targeting underserviced communities. He thanked the township and Hydro One for the financial support – construction and facility prep was hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said – and credited Clifford, and Dr. Mike Rondinelli, another of the centre’s partners, for prompting the eventual opening. “A lot of credit goes to your local (practitioners),” he said.

Lab services include bloodwork, drug and alcohol testing, and prenatal services, he said. The medical centre includes pharmacy, physiotherapy, dentistry, and cardiology services, among others, Clifford said. It’s important people know the Dynacare lab is open for all, he said.

“Whether your doc is in Corunna, in Sarnia, in Toronto, if it’s an Ontario lab rec, you can take it here.”