Its been 100 years since the Port Arthur Health Centre first opens its doors and its physicians, both current and retired, came out for a celebration Wednesday.

Ophthalmologist Doctor Chris Francis is the current committee chair and says he is humbled to meet physicians who worked there prior to his 30 years of practice.

“You can see through the different physicians here, a lot of them are connected to the physicians that I never met and so its sort of a passing of the torch, I feel honoured to be here as the chair of our little board.”

Francis notes while it is a tough time in medicine as seen daily with shortages of personnel, he remains optimistic for the clinic’s future.

He notes there are many more opportunities for healthcare providers.

“A place where not just physicians work, but others like nurse practitioners and chiropractors and social workers and psychologists. They have these teams in other places and I think down the road a building of this size would be a great host to such an enterprise.”

Currently close to 100 people work at the health centre as a whole, ranging from physicians and front line staff to technicians behind the scenes.