KCHC is a proud partner in this clinic providing well-baby health care for infants who do not have a primary care provider. Along with Queen’s School of Nursing and KFL&A Public Health, we have developed a newborn and early childhood clinic. It is estimated that 20 babies a month are born in the Kingston area who are not attached to a primary care provider, making them vulnerable to not achieving their best health.
“It is important to KCHC to work with our community partners to ensure the health of everyone in our communities. This clinic is vital to the health and well-being of babies so they get a healthy start in their growth and development,” says Dr. Rupa Patel, Family Physician, KCHC and Assistant Professor, Queen’s Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Patel and the Weller Clinic team provided well baby care for months through KCHC for infants without a primary care provider and identified this community health care need and brought the partners together to help design the clinic.
The focus of the clinic for newborns:
- provide wellness care
- monitor growth and development
- conduct milestone screening
- deliver immunizations critical to early childhood health
- refer to a pediatrician or other specialists if a baby needs specialized care
The Well Baby Care Clinic is staffed by nurse practitioners, as well as nurses from KFL&A Public Health. The clinic will provide inter-professional educational experiences for undergraduate nursing, nurse practitioner and medical students, and post-graduate medical trainees in family medicine and pediatrics.
This initiative also benefits the larger health-care system by providing essential care to infants and young children, and potentially reducing visits to the Children’s Outpatient Clinic at Hotel Dieu Hospital and to Emergency Departments.
Open: Wednesday and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to noon
Please note that routine immunizations are provided at your well baby clinic appointment and you do NOT require an additional appointment for vaccines at KFL&A Public Health.