Lakeshore Hospital family doctor unit opens on Montreal's West Island

A new family medicine group opened at the Lakeshore Hospital on Wednesday as part of a long-term plan to create quicker access to health care.

Quebec's family doctor shortage is especially acute on Montreal's West Island, the region that Lakeshore services.

A modular building was erected recently to house emergency services, and the second floor will now help ease the burden further by meeting the need for family doctors.

"Where the clinic started with only one physician, today it grew to 15 and shortly will grow to more than 24 physicians and 16 residents," said Dr. Shady Abid, who has been part of the Lakeshore GMF Clinic since day one.

The clinic will be affiliated with McGill University, which will mean more patients can be seen.

"The clinic is not just a family medicine clinic that will be seeing patients," said Abid. "It's actually a pillar that will be training future family doctors, help, see patients that do not have access and, innovate, teach on a different level."

Quebec and the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation are funding the clinic.

"This is a huge day for the West Island," said foundation director Nathalie Kamel. "Having a family medicine clinic inside the hospital, having patients to be able to just take an elevator upstairs to be able to see a family doctor and then get referrals as they need them, this is a total game to game changer."

The clinic opens as the language used in health-care settings has come under scrutiny.

Earlier this week, the West Island Health Agency launched a campaign in French and English.

Agency president Dan Gabay said it was to make the law clear to both patients and those who work at Lakeshore.

"The campaign was just a gentle reminder that whether you're a francophone or you're an anglophone, if you express your preferential choice, we'll address it in the language of your choice, which is what is expected of us," he said. "It wasn't meant to be a political position."

Construction on Lakeshore's new ER won't happen until next year, but the Lakeshore family medicine group is operational and ready to grow.