Nurse practitioners Marilyn Butcher and Roberta Heale were the driving force behind Canada's first nurse practitioner health clinic.

Sudbury Onatrio is the clinic's home and Ontario's health minister George Smitherman cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony.

Smitherman gave the credit to the two Sudbury women for "unlocking a model" he expects will be replicated to offer health care to Ontarians "who remain on the outside."

Butcher and Heale took the lead in the work that has resulted in the establishment of the three clinics that will treat 4,500 orphan patients when they are running at full capacity.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced education who have legislative authority to treat common illnesses and injuries, write prescriptions, and order laboratory tests, x-rays and other diagnostic tests.

Nurse practitioner led clinic are considered to be an answer to doctor shortages that are common in small towns and rural communities across Canada.