The first nurse practitioner-led clinic opened Friday in Sudbury, Ont., signalling a changing approach to health-care delivery.

Nurse practitioners, who are registered nurses with additional education, have legislative authority to treat common illnesses and injuries, write prescriptions, order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests. They generally leave conditions requiring acute care to doctors.

Nurse practitioners have legislative authority to treat common illnesses and injuries, write prescriptions, order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests.
(CBC)

Funding for the Sudbury district nurse practitioner clinics was announced by the Ontario government last November. The clinic currently employs four nurse practitioners, support staff and physician partners.

It's the first clinic in Canada whose board consists mainly of nurse practitioners, giving them full decision-making power, Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), told CBCNews.ca. Other members include community members and other health-care providers.

"Usually, family practice groups were mainly physicians. Nurse practitioners are actually leading the clinic," she said.

Many clinics employ nurse practitioners, particularly in communities where family doctors have retired or left, said Grinspun.

In the Sudbury clinic, physicians will be available to see patients on-site and will also be available for consultation for the nurse practitioners when necessary.

Within the next year, services at the clinic will be expanded to include a dietitian and a social worker.

The main clinic will operate out of Sudbury, with satellite locations in Dowling and Chapleau. Patient care in Chapleau began in July, while the Sudbury site opened its doors to patients earlier this month.

The clinic was established after two Sudbury nurse practitioners, Marilyn Butcher and Roberta Heale, witnessed a severe shortage of primary health-care practitioners in the area, according to the RNAO.