LAKELAND - Four independent nurse practitioners are now practicing in the Lakeland region, seeing patients in Cold Lake, Two Hills, Vegreville, and Vermilion.
The nurse practitioners are part of the ‘Nurse Practitioner Primary Care’ program launched by the provincial government in April, which allows nurses to see patients in their own clinics instead of being attached to a Primary Care Network or a doctor.
“Previously, their only other option was the NP (Nurse Practitioner) Support Program funding, which was through the Primary Care Network, and that was not initiated by an NP to obtain employment but would have had to have been applied for by a physician or the PCN. So, this enables nurse practitioners to choose primary care based on their education and background,” said Jennifer Mador, the president of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta.
Mador said if there are nurses moving from other care settings into primary care, it is still a benefit because hopefully the patients will follow, rather than using the emergency room as their point of contact.
According to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, it’s not about saving money, but ensuring people have access to primary care.
“When we look at the number of people that come through our emergency rooms, a good number of them, and I’ve seen statistics that are upwards of 70 per cent, could actually be handled by their primary care provider, if they could get into a provider, or the hours were available for them to get into a provider,” said LaGrange.
According to the government, 56 of the 67 applications received since April have been approved and 33 nurse practitioners are now working autonomously around the province. The government estimates 30,000 new people now have access to care.
Cold Lake
Diane Angelopoulos is an Independent Nurse Practitioner at the Merit Medical Clinic in Cold Lake. Prior to opening her practice in October, she saw patients with the Cold Lake Primary Care Network.
According to Stephanie Delorme, the interim executive director, when Angelopoulos left for independent practice, she took her patients with her.
“It will increase the panel size, and it will improve access to after-hours care, so it is a great start that the government is recognizing the value of NPs. Right now, it seems like it’s taking from one to do the other, but the new compensation model will probably increase the number of NPs in the province over the next few years,” said Delorme.
To participate in the program, the nurse practitioners must be responsible for at least 900 patients and offer after-hours access. In exchange, they will receive roughly 80 per cent of the compensation a fee-for-service family doctor would.
