Long battle ends

Family health team for New Liskeard first step in new era of local medicine

by Jim Patrick
Speaker Reporter
TEMISKAMING SHORES - The long battle to bring a family health team to New Liskeard has ended in victory.
The announcement made recently is that one of the 30 new health teams across the province is coming here.
Dr. Glenn Corneil of Toronto helped to spearhead the initiative and said the announcement came just in time.
“The challenge is receiving a designation in town for a family health team. This was our third application for one and we were in the last wave since the province has made the last of its approvals for awhile.”
There are currently 170 family health teams across the province providing care for 2.3 million Ontarians and serving more than 393,000 previously unattached patients, states a release from Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP David Ramsay.
Dr. Corneil said it took a lot of work to achieve this recent success. He credited the victory to the working group that worked so hard to make the unit a reality.
WORKING GROUP
Besides Dr. Corneil, the group consists of Dr. Colleen Davies, Temiskaming Hospital administrator Bruce Cunningham, Shirley Watchorn, hospital quality and project management leader, physician recruitment, Maurice Landriault, Mayor Judy Pace and MPP Ramsay.
What the family health team means for this area is that the 4,000 to 5,000 residents who don’t have a family doctor will now have access not just to a physician but also to supporting health professionals.
Dr. Corneil admitted there is no way to capture the exact number of people in the New Liskeard area who don’t have a family doctor. The above figures were extrapolated from the population demographics; the number of practicing doctors and the numbers of patients they see as well as the number of people who attend the hospital emergency department and say they have no family doctor.
Another factor that will lead to the success of the program are the new graduates from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
Dr. Corneil says the days of a physician in practice for himself or herself are beginning to dwindle.
“New medical graduates aren’t interested in starting solo practices. By being part of a family health unit, a new doctor doesn’t have to hire staff or furnish an office. All he or she has to do is bring in their stethoscope and start practicing.”
Another benefit for a new graduate is there are experienced physicians there handy for consultation.
FACTORS
Dr. Corneil pointed out other factors that have to be in place for the unit to work. Nurse practitioners, nurses, dieticians and other health professionals are vital parts of the team. They reduce the doctor’s workload and can give greater specialized help to the patient, as well.
The lack of this assistance has been a stumbling block to good health care for years, the physician said.
In fact, getting these other professionals is essential for the program to work.
Dr. Corneil explained, “A patient with high blood pressure, for example, will see a physician first. The diagnosis is done and a decision is made on medication.
“But then there is counseling for weight loss, exercise programs and diet changes that have to be made and can be done by other competent professionals.
“Surveillance of blood pressure can be done by nurses and if there are complications more medical management can be prescribed by the family doctor. It is this sort of modern team approach that has been so successful.”
Dr. Corneil said other benefits include reduced waiting times on a number of levels.
“We can get more patients rostered and that means fewer people will have to go to the hospital emergency department for complaints that can be managed by the family doctor or nurses.”
Instead of waiting a month to see a physician over a minor problem, the patient can come to the team and see a nurse practitioner or nurse for advice.
There is a medical clinic building in New Liskeard but it isn’t designed for this type of practice, Dr. Corneil said.
So the search is on for a new building somewhere in the community.
“The next step is to work through the ministry and to hire an administrative leader. Then we can move forward on hiring the other personnel who can work with the doctors.”
That is also a challenge since there are 30 other family health teams in the province vying to hire nurse practitioners, nurses, and others who are needed.
SIX TO 12 MONTHS
Now that the team has been approved for New Liskeard it is expected to take between six to 12 months before it is up and in operation.
Mayor Judy Pace, who is also chair of the Timiskaming Health Unit board of directors, has been instrumental in the campaign to get the family health team for this area.
“It was truly a group effort to have this success and it really is a success since we were one of the 30 teams awarded by the province.
“Obviously, this is going to provide more access to family health services. I think it highlights the opportunity for recruiting new physicians for this area. This has been something that I have been working on very hard for the last four years because we have difficulty getting new doctors.”
Four more physicians are needed in New Liskeard and three in Haileybury.
Mayor Pace, whose husband is a physician and they have a son in medical school, agrees that new doctors are looking for setups such as the family health teams.
“It is team-based care and so far we haven’t been able to offer this. So the announcement is tremendous news in terms of the opportunities for us to recruit new doctors.”