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Doctor wants in on deal

A local doctor has found himself and his business left out of a deal that will buy out the Associated Medical Centre when doctors move their practices to the Wellness Centre.
The owner of the Brindawan Family Medical Clinic claims unfair treatment after being left out of a deal that will buy out the Associated Medical Centre after doctors working
The owner of the Brindawan Family Medical Clinic claims unfair treatment after being left out of a deal that will buy out the Associated Medical Centre after doctors working there move to the Wellness Centre.

A local doctor has found himself and his business left out of a deal that will buy out the Associated Medical Centre when doctors move their practices to the Wellness Centre.

The Town made an agreement with the doctors at the clinic to buy the building at assessed value, but did not approach the Brindawan clinic with the same offer.

Dr. Isphara Ellaurie owns and operates the Brindawan Family Medical Clinic on 51 Street and is upset that after investing in the clinic he will be in competition with a taxpayer funded facility.

Ellaurie plans to retire in three to five years and is concerned he will have lost his investment because the clinic will be harder to sell.

“If they’re going to provide a clinic for all the doctors in this town, I need to be catered for as well,” he said. “I feel this is very, very unfair. I’m not being treated properly by the community.”

Ellaurie offered to sell his building and the parking lot he owns behind the Elks Hall to the Wellness Centre committee in a letter in October, 2010.

Ellaurie said he received only a response confirming receipt of his letter in 2010 from Town CAO Ron Boisvert, which stated the issue would be brought up at the next committee meeting. Ellaurie said he did not receive any further reply.

The committee did not want to buy the building and replied in writing to Ellaurie, according to Boisvert.

“The committee recommended to both Town and County councils that we do not buy their building,” said Boisvert.

Ellaurie said he was not approached or consulted to be part of the deal. The Wellness Centre is “very necessary,” he said, but added his clinic currently houses two doctors and has space for one more. Ellaurie said he has provided the only wheelchair accessible facility since he opened in 2004. Before opening the clinic, Ellaurie worked at the Associate Medical Centre, but left because of “medical politics.”

In his letter to the committee, he said he was forced into going solo because of “medical politics and also the inertia of the organization I was part of from 1986 to 2004.”

Ellaurie said he would like the Town to purchase his building and to be given the chance to move into the Wellness Centre or to continue operating at the current location.

The County is not part of the agreement to buy the Associated Medical Centre. The Town may resell the building or use it for some of its departments.

“We’re going to try and do something with it,” said Boisvert, adding ideally the Town will be able to sell it quickly.

Mayor Glenn Andersen said he hopes the Brindawan clinic will stay open. The Wellness Centre is not in competition with Ellaurie but wants to retain more doctors to take the pressure off the current doctors, he said.

“The idea of the Wellness Centre isn’t to lose doctors or pull doctors away from any other clinic. The idea is to give them a place to work that we can retain doctors, give people more access to doctors and the better equipment and testing procedures.”

The Wellness Centre is to give people more access to doctors and services like MSI, CT scans and mammograms, said Andersen. “Stuff like that is what we want to bring here so we can keep the people here rather than transporting them to other centres for these tests.”

The current facilities are outdated and unsuited for retaining a big contingent of doctors, he said. The Town and County owning the Wellness Centre will give some stability to the community, he added.

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