Doctors Joanna Keall and Chantel Kaytor will look you straight in the eye and tell you the hard truth. Don’t take it against them; they’re just doing their job.
Keall and Kaytor are the new optometrists in Davidson. The two doctors will be running a satellite clinic at the Davidson Family Practice every second Thursday, with the next one scheduled for Sept. 27, where they will be conducting eye exams as well as taking measurements on and dispensing glasses.
“We’re very excited,” said Keall. “We’ve worked for a good year to be set up here and we’re excited to be open finally. People will not have to drive (to the city) for exams and it’s an opportunity to make it easier on them.”
She said their first day on Sept. 13 was a bit slow, but that was “perfect” as it gave them a bit of time to get organized. The two doctors work fulltime out of InSight Vision Care in Regina and also practise in satellite clinics in Indian Head and Balcarres.
Donna Bessey, community development coordinator for Davidson, said the goal of the town is provide its residents with as many health services as possible. She said they will be looking into bringing the duo over more often once they have built up a big enough clientele, but for now it’s just great having them here at all.
“It will enable people to access services that otherwise they’d have to drive to Saskatoon or Regina or over to Outlook for,” said Bessey. “Especially for seniors it can be quite difficult for them or even for people who don’t drive, so it’s providing a needed service.”
Mary Jane Morrison, Mayor of Davidson, said bringing in the optometrists is part of a broader health plan that she hopes will see more caregivers from all areas of medicine come to town to practise including dentists, occupational therapists and podiatrists. She said if the town and the health region could work together and try to bring these services to Davidson and find space for them everyone from young people to seniors will benefit.
“It’s a little bit of a slow process,” said Morrison. “It’s not like we have the funding to build a building, but we’re certainly aware that if we could have a professional building it wouldn’t have to house all of these people at the same time. It could be rotating.
“Whether we work with the health region to try and do something more at the Health Centre or try to get a professional building on Main Street, we have our eyes and ears open for those opportunities. We’ll do what we can to make that happen.”
Keall said for now they are happy working out of the Davidson Family Practice and anyone can book an appointment with them by calling 567-1000 or just “mosey in” on their scheduled days to browse the selection of glasses on display.