Local spa in Dawson City expands to offer primary care services

In Dawson City, a local spa is expanding to offer primary care services. The 12-month pilot project aims to make treatment more accessible, particularly for people who find traditional medical settings difficult. Chris McIntyre reports. Until recently, the only place to receive primary care was here. Now, people have a second option here. Mike Ellis is the spa's co-owner and a nurse practitioner. He says the business already offers a range of health care services, so expanding to include primary care came naturally. It was also something the community asked for, so he's putting his nursing experience to use. We're talking about the things that you'd go to a medical clinic for to go and see a GP. So if you have a long-term condition like diabetes or hypertension Thank you. MS, any of those conditions you could come and see us for and we would be able to help you through your journey in the same way that a physician, a general practitioner would. Ellis says this is not meant to replace any services offered by the town's hospital. What we're trying to do is offer a choice to people. Thank Having that building is a challenge for some people. There's institutional trauma in town. People struggle with accessing more conventional you Western medical services in those kinds of settings. very And some people are just looking for a different way of doing things. Nurse practitioner-led care is a little different much. than physician-led care. It's not better. But it is different. It offers people some different options for receiving their primary health care. Brad Cathers is the Minister of Health and Social Services. He says his department welcomes the initiative and is working closely with Ellis to support it. It is a bit of a new model, so it has taken a number of months just to work together on the details. Some of the final details have yet to be formally concluded, but we do expect that... That will occur and look forward to seeing this opportunity for Dawson residents and beyond to have the option, should they choose, of going to Yukon spaces to receive care from a nurse practitioner. In the meantime, Ellis says he's excited to show what's possible when it comes to primary care services in Dawson, but also in other communities. I think that's the great thing with health care. You know, You know, we all learn from each other all the time, and being open to sharing practice helps everyone. It helps the providers, it helps the patients. And, you know, I learn so much from my colleagues in other jurisdictions about how they do things, and I'm able to bring that here. It's really nice to be able to share what we're doing here and send it out into the world. The Yukon Spa is closed today because the cafe inside is currently under renovations. But when it reopens, Dawsonites can once again stop by for a coffee, a cookie, and this time a medical checkup. Chris McIntyre, CBC News, Dawson City.