Two years in the planning, Guelph's new HIV/AIDS clinic opened Friday. "I bargained with God to make this work," said Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik, the Guelph family physician who organized the founding of the Masai Center for Local, Regional, and Global Health. "I asked him to make it fun and make it easy. Well, it wasn't always fun and it wasn't always easy, but it has been profoundly rewarding."

Early last year, Zajdlik received seed money from the Ontario Ministry of Health's AIDS Bureau and hired a consultant to help write a proposal for Masai. In April 2004, she held a planning meeting, and 35 people attended from various health agencies. Ontario's Ministry of Health will give Masai $125,000 Canadian ($107,000 US) a year to help with overhead costs.

At Masai, a clinic nurse and office administrator are on staff, and four doctors will jointly care for patients. An on-site pharmacy could open in the next three months, said pharmacist Danny Lui. The AIDS Committee of Guelph and Wellington, which shares the same building, will be an important partner, providing emotional support, transportation, drug funding, and housing to HIV patients.

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