88 Succms (2/1 the Edge 
     
    
   
   
    
     Tignish area; the few who were not were believers in co- 
     
     operation who came from neighbouring communities 
     
     where there were no co—operative institutions. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The first to be organized was Tignish Co—op Health 
     
     Centre, which was set up in 1974. As has been mentioned 
     
     earlier, it had become very difficult to find a doctor who 
     
     would live in such a remote community. A co-op drug 
     
     store had flourished briefly in the late fifties and early 
     
     sixties, but had succumbed to the same situation. For 
     
     several years prior to 1974, a group of interested people 
     
     had been trying to find a response to a seemingly 
     
     impossible situation. Among the most active of these was 
     
     Ann Gavin, a local woman who had made a successful 
     
     career as a nurse in New York State. Another was Gerald 
     
     Handrahan, the manager of the Co—op store, and one of 
     
     the first members of the Credit Union. Although Miss 
     
     Gavin was against the idea of forming another co-op, the 
     
     majority voted to organize one which would be the owner 
     
     of a building containing facilities for doctor’s and 
     
     dentist’s offices, a pharmacy, and space for other health- 
     
     related activities. The resulting building was built and paid 
     
     for locally; the provincial Minister of Health of the time 
     
     saw no reason for Tignish to have such a facility. To this day, 
     
     the Health Centre is entirely community supported, apart 
     
     from the rents paid by the professionals who use its facilities, 
     
     and is the only one of its kind in the Province. In addition, 
     
     many of its members come to Ti gnish from neighbouring 
     
     communities. As well as what was originally planned for 
     
     it, the Centre now houses a busy foot care clinic, a day 
     
     care centre, an Al-Anon room, a seniors' club, and a 
     
     volunteer shop where good used clothing can be bought, 
     
     the proceeds going to the upkeep of the Centre.