We don’t hear much good news about accessing health care lately. Right now, one-half of Cochrane’s 35,000 residents don’t have a primary care provider.
The new, first-of-its-kind nurse practitioner clinic in Cochrane will cut that number down to size and could revolutionize primary healthcare access in Alberta.
Patients at the new clinic will be able to choose a nurse practitioner as their primary care provider.
Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners can do about eight-in-ten of the services doctors provide. If more is necessary, patients would get referrals to specialists as needed.
This one clinic with ten nurse practitioners–each helping 1,000 patients–could lower the number of people in Cochrane without a family doctor by more than half.
“You will see this will be a catalyst for change across Canada,” said Karen Parker, the nurse practitioner opening the facility.
Parker’s clinic will be the first in Alberta to offer an independent option for publicly funded primary care.
After four years of research and collaboration with local stakeholders, the former VP and Independent Practice Director for the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta and Co-Founder and Medical Director of Compass Health Services in Calgary told the Cochrane Eagle that the clinic has been a long time coming.
Parker has secured a building to lease in the Quarry, and as soon as Alberta Health finalizes the details of the new funding model, Parker can start the renovations.
Plans Moving Forward
Parker recently updated the Town of Cochrane Council on her plans, which were very well received.
“This is great news for Cochrane and much needed,” said Coun. Susan Flowers immediately after hearing Parker’s update.
Cochrane is an ideal spot for the launch of this clinic because of how quickly its population is growing and how close it is to Calgary, making the area a simple commute for those who do get a referral for outside services.
Plus, with plans to offer after-hours service, including holidays and weekends, the clinic will fill a a much-needed gap for those needing care outside of “business hours.”
“This is about your health clinic – it’s not mine. It’s you accessing high-level, high-quality services, customized to where and when you need it,” said Parker.
The clinic’s funding model, based on salaries rather than fee-for-service, aligns with the Alberta Government’s primary care network model, ensuring sustainable and accessible healthcare delivery.
Not only this, but Parker’s vision extends beyond Cochrane, with plans to expand similar clinics to Airdrie and Calgary within a year.
It is a revolution in providing primary health services and should take a load off doctors in the area.
Provincial Support for Practitioners
The provincial government is investing $2 million over three years to recruit, prepare, and support nurse practitioners in setting up their own clinics.
“By enabling them [nurse practitioners] to open their own clinics, we are ensuring Albertans can more easily access the care they need,” said Danielle Smith.
Some may be a little hesitant to use a “nurse practitioner” rather than a traditional doctor as their first point of contact.
But for the vast majority of people, nurse practitioners can provide all the care needed and then some – no referrals necessary.
A well-known retired family doctor in Cochrane and Vice-chair of the Cochrane and Area Health Foundation, Dennis Fundytus, was at the presentation to the town council.
Fundytus said he would like to see more details on how the clinic will collaborate with the rest of the healthcare system but that he did support the framework.
“In the end, there’s need, and an accelerating need, for care providers,” he said.
“If the quality of care is as good or better than the other primary care providers, then the public will support it.”
For now, and most Albertans would likely echo this idea, we’ll take what we can get.
As long as the care is as good as this plan sounds, it is a large step in the right direction.
