The Mayor of Tache calls it unfortunate that the public health nurse office in Lorette has closed.

Southern Health locked the doors at the end of March, noting the space was underutilized. The public health nurse that had been working out of Lorette has moved to their team of public health nurses at the Ste. Anne community office.

"It happened quite quickly," says Tache Mayor Justin Bohemier. "We didn't have too much of a pre-warning on it to try and find a solution ahead of time."

(Tache Mayor Justin Bohemier)Bohemier says it is sad because the office had been there for so long and people had been relying on it.

Tache council met with Southern Health in April to discuss the matter. Bohemier notes a lot of residents have been voicing their concerns with the closure.

"If people don't have the resources to get to Ste. Anne, it's a little bit difficult for them to reach the programs that they need," he says.

Bohemier says Southern Health assured them that the services being offered in homes will continue and that the closure is a way to save on rent and offer more programming.

"They had expressed that if we could perhaps find some locations for them that they could use as a satellite office, maybe on some scheduled times," says Bohemier. "They'd entertain that idea of coming in to help us out that way."

Bohemier says it looks like they may be able to find some solutions.

"I know some community groups have offered some spaces, so maybe some schools, maybe some Churches, stuff like that that may be able to offer some room for them," he says. "It will be a little bit of a trial to make all the points connect."

Bohemier says they are very determined to keep this resource in place for everybody. And he thinks there is space to accommodate.

"I believe there is," he says. "We are trying to find something appropriate."

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