Nearly a year after the formation of the Fort Frances Community Clinic, programming under the Family Health Team here is growing to help better suit local residents’ health care needs.
This was the message town council got Monday night during a presentation by John McTaggart, chair of the Fort Frances Community Clinic Inc. board, and clinic administrator Marlis Bruyere.
As of this month, the Family Health Team has filled all its program positions.
“We now have at the clinic two full-time nurse practitioners, and the benefit of having the nurse practitioners is the way they collaborate and work with the physicians in providing care to patients,” noted Bruyere.
“They can do about 80 percent of what a physician can do, so one of the benefits we are starting to notice having the nurse practitioners is a reduction in wait times to see someone,” she added.
“You may have a doctor you are registered or rostered with at the clinic, but it may take three months to see him because they’re very busy, booked up with a lot of patients,” noted Bruyere, adding a patients can see a nurse practitioner regarding their cold, ’flu, or whatnot, and that they will collaborate with your physician regarding diagnosis and treatment.
Either the physician or nurse practitioner will get back to the patient.
“It’s been beneficial for people to come in and work with the nurse practitioners,” said Bruyere. “We’re really impassioned about what we’re seeing. People are happy—they’re not having long wait times.
“We’re hoping by the end of a full year operating with nurse practitioners [that] we’re going to see a reduction in emergency room visits for less urgent things.
“I believe that’s going to be a benefit for the health care system.”
Bruyere said the Family Health Team also has hired a health systems navigator, who helps patients “go through the system as seamlessly as possible” when they are, for example, referred to a specialist or dietitian as part of their treatment.
The clinic also has hired a registered nurse dedicated to chronic disease management and anti-coagulation therapy. She also will help take pressure off physicians.
“For example, if you’re a diabetic patient who needs to see a physician three to four times a year, she can ensure that you’re having your regular lab work, that your labs are going to the physician, that if you need any work with a dietitian or diabetes educator, that she will connect you with those services,” explained Bruyere.
She also said the clinic has contracted the services of a chiropodist through Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. to help improve the foot care of diabetic patients.
“The biggest advantage of all of this is how we work together as a team,” stressed Bruyere. “We feel that having that type of multi-disciplinary team that works together will be a good factor in recruiting physicians.
“They’ll be able to walk into a turn key operation. The support staff will be there and the allied health care professionals will be there.”
McTaggart noted the board has been working for more than two years to bring the clinic to this point, and thanked board members Todd Hamilton (president), Dr. Bob Algie (secretary-treasurer), Wayne Woods, Mark Kowalchuk, Liz Clark, Dr. Barry Anderson, and Dr. John Nelson for their “undying support, commitment, and leadership” with this initiative.
McTaggart said the community clinic undertook two initiatives at the same time: the implementation of the Family Health Team and the purchase of the Fort Frances Clinic from the physician group.
Fort Frances was approved in the second wave of Family Health Teams by the Ministry of Health early last year.
The first employee was nurse practitioner Nicole Therrien, who went back to Rainy River last June.
Then in September, the Family Health Team hired Bruyere as clinic administrator, shifting the workload off the board to a full-time paid professional.
“This has made a huge difference in our progress forward,” said McTaggart.
On Jan. 1, 2008, the Fort Frances Community Clinic assumed all the staff of Nelson Medicine, and “the transition has gone very well.”
As of this month, the team has filled all its program positions.
As far as the purchase of the clinic, McTaggart said that as of Aug. 1, 2007, the transfer of the property was completed.
“I’d like to thank this council for your vision and commitment for this undertaking,” he noted. “This is a very significant step forward in levelling the playing field when attracting new physicians to our community.
“Thank you for your leadership.”
McTaggart also said Riverside’s board of directors was supportive in completing the acquisition.
“I can tell you we have four tenants in the facility and it has been business as usual,” added McTaggart. “We believe the ownership change was seamless to the users of the clinic, the community.
“We’ve been getting our feet on the ground and learning a lot about running this facility, and now we begin to plan for the long-term for the physical structure in order to meet the needs of the community.”
McTaggart said March 31 marks the first year anniversary of the Fort Frances Community Clinic—and that’s “a milestone.”
“We’re delighted to have made it to the end of the first year,” he enthused. “The real fruits of our labour are just starting, and the future looks bright for the delivery of primary health care in Fort Frances.
“I believe we are now better positioned than ever to attract physicians to Fort Frances.
“With a community-owned clinic, a prospective physician can simply move in and set up a practice with known overhead costs and an environment that allows them to work with their colleagues,” McTaggart explained.
“We have a hospital that’s second-to-none in Northern Ontario. We have a great community on a beautiful lake that’s well-located geographically.
“I’m told the doctor recruitment and retention committee is actively recruiting physicians, and I believe that we’re doing all the right things,” said McTaggart.
“It’s a good news story,” said Mayor Roy Avis.
Fort Frances Times
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