EDMONTON – The creation of 140 family care clinics (FCCs) across Alberta was an election promise that generated a lot of backlash for Premier Alison Redford last year. The Opposition argued that the plan was costly and sided with the Alberta Medical Association, who claimed there was not enough planning or consultation on the new system. The government pushed forwarded with its plan, though, opening three pilot clinics – one in Slave Lake, Edmonton and Calgary. And now, just over a year later, it’s planning on announcing more.
But does the family care clinic model work? Global News spent the day at the family care clinic in Slave Lake to try and find out.
Unlike the existing system of primary care networks, which are more physician-focused, family care clinics operate through a partnership of health care professionals.
“Physicians don’t necessarily have to be the gatekeeper to the health care system,” said the Slave Lake clinic manager, Johan van der Nest. “There are so many other health professionals that we are under-utilizing, and this model gives us the opportunity to use everybody to the maximum capacity.”
In Slave Lake’s family care clinic, there are nurses, a social worker, dieticians, and physiotherapists amongst other health professionals – all working together with the goal of making health care more accessible to residents.
And so far, it seems to be working, with the number of people making non-emergency visits to the Slake Lake hospital ER down by 20 per cent since the clinic opened.
“When we started, it was months to access physiotherapy in town. We’re now at the point that people can access physiotherapy within one to seven days, and we’re fairly confident that within a short time, we’ll be able to reduce that to same-day access as well,” explained van der Nest.
Patients also sometimes had to wait weeks to see a doctor; now it’s same-day service thanks to hours extended into the evening and weekends, made possible in part due to nurse practitioners like Nicholas Fitterer.
He came to work in Slave Lake in January, and has been busy ever since. His extra training allows him to prescribe medications, diagnose illnesses, and order tests, all while giving doctors some much-need relief evenings and weekends.
Dr. Paul Caffarro, who has been working as a physician in Slave Lake since 1974, believes the family care clinic is a great improvement over the previous system.
“When we were working here on our own,” he explains, “and it was privately owned (before the FCC) and we all worked very, very hard… it was very demanding.”
Before the family care clinic, there were two clinics in town. But after the Slave Lake wildfires, five of the clinic’s six physicians ended up leaving town and not coming back.
“When the doctor shortage was acute here, we had to work even harder, Caffarro said.
“So the FCC came along and it relieved us of the role of being administrators, looking after staff…it’s really helped the doctor to be organized, it’s given him a breather. It allows him to enjoy the community and his family way, way more.
The government is expected to announce another round of family care clinics on Tuesday.
Global News contacted the AMA to see if its stance on FCCs has changed, however, its president was not available to comment.
With files from Vassy Kapelos, Global News
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