Mould keeps Eastmain health clinic closed

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Mould keeps Eastmain health clinic closed

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 | 9:46 AM ET

CBC Saskatchewan - Saskatchewan,Canada

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2006/10/10/qc-

mouldineastmain.html

Patients in a Cree community on Bay will have to see their

doctors in a day-care centre for several weeks to come because a

mould infestation has closed the community's only health clinic.

Health officials in Eastmain shut down the clinic in early September

after the mould was discovered because of the risk it presented to

patients visiting the centre.

Cleanup efforts should get underway by the end of October, but in

the long term, officials would like to have a new clinic built.

In the meantime, the clinic has set up shop temporarily in the local

day-care.

Mould can exacerbate health problems already present in sick people,

explained Mathieu Trépanier, an officer with the Cree Board of

Health and Social Services of Bay.

" The most common problems are eyes, nose and throat irritations,

like cold symptoms. It can also aggravate asthma, " he said.

Mould is a common problem in older buildings in northern Quebec, but

it is possible to clean it, said Brown, a member of the Cree

Health Board.

Public health inspectors examined the building, and " they gave us

some procedures to follow, " she said.