A nurse-run clinic is Quebec's latest attempt to unclog ERs

As a nurse practitioner in Montreal, Nadine Belony says she has more independence when it comes to treating her patients, be it interpreting diagnostic tests, prescribing medications or referring them to a specialist.

"We really have the competence to take charge of our patients," she said.

But until now,she has always worked alongside doctors.

She will be among the nurse practitioners working at a new clinic in the city's east end, offering care to patients whose ailments don't require an emergency room visit.

The clinic is opening Thursday at the CLSC Olivier-Guimond on Sherbrooke Street E., near the corner of Louis-Veuillot Street.

Lina Spagnolo, director of nursing at theCIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'le-de-Montral, saysthis is a first for Quebec but not for Canada or other parts of the world.

The clinic is an added service for the population and will help relieve pressure on the health-care network, she explained.

"You see the overcrowding that we are experiencing," said Spagnolo."The numbers are very high this week."

"Ultimately, it's to relieve pressure on our ER departments, relieve our teams also in our ER departments who are completely overworked."

But it's not a walk-in clinic, and the hours are limited for now with only a few nurse practitioners like Belony helping out working voluntary overtime hours so the new servicecan get off the ground.

Patients will need to be referred by triage nurses from the emergency rooms at nearby Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Santa Cabrini hospitals. Patients may also be referred by 811, the province's health hotline.

Patients will be referred to the clinic when they are not in critical condition and don't need immediate, urgent care, Spagnolo said.

Nurse practitioners will be able to offer services such as prescribingmedications,performing some medical treatments, interpreting diagnostic tests and other non-urgent services.

The aim is to have three full-time nurse practitioners after the holidays and to eventually have the clinicopen 12 hours a day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.during the week and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends.

There will be nursing assistants on site and clerical staff,who will greet patients and manage files.

"It's a model that will evolve," Spagnolo said.

Other nurse practitioner clinics are slated to open in Montreal, including at the Verdun CLSC and Notre-Dame hospital.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dub announced the clinics' opening in early November as the province's short-staffed health-care system was already reaching a breaking point under the weight of so many patients.

At the time of the announcement, Dr. lyse Berger-Pelletier, who is part of the province's crisis team formed to tackle overcrowding in ERs, said the move wouldhelp urgent care teams by directing patients who do not have a family doctor to other services.

About half of the some 10,000 Quebecers who visit ERs daily could be going elsewhere, according to Dub.

The federation of general practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) says Quebec is short 1,000 family doctors, while about 2,500 emergency doctors are also currently working in family medicine.