Health centres get $10M to hire nurses
Low-income patients to receive after-hours care
Calgary community health centres are getting a boost from the province, with more nurse practitioners to care for low-income patients.
The three-year, $ 10- million demonstration project will see some 16 nurse practitioners hired at four Alberta health centres to aid the province’s most vulnerable people.
“Nurse practitioners are highly skilled and educated professionals who play a critical role in meeting the health needs of Albertans,” said Associate Health Minister Brandy Payne, adding nurse practitioners deal with a wide range of issues from “mental health and substance use to diagnosis and treatment.”
Between The Alex, the Calgary Urban Project Society, Pure North S’Energy and the Boyle McCauley Health Centre, 10 nurse practitioners will be hired in the first year of the demonstration project.
The Institute of Health Economics will evaluate the projects and the results will develop future policies related to primary health care in Alberta.
Shelley Heartwell, CEO of The Alex Community Health Centre, said the projects will serve as an example of how effective teambased client care can be when doctors, licensed practicing nurses and nurse practitioners work together.
“We know that nurse practitioners on a health team can significantly increase access, manage chronic illness and reduce healthcare costs,” Heartwell said.
“(Nurse practitioners) role will focus on wellness, prevention, chronic disease management, screening to detect potential problems early.”
The Alex hired two nurse practitioners in 2016. One nurse practitioner and one licensed practical nurse will be hired in 2017 and more staff means The Alex will be able to extend their hours of operation on evenings and weekends to provide comprehensive, primary care services to low-income families and at-risk youth.
“We’re really thrilled about it and we’re hoping it will become a funding model because, in the past, we’ve had to kind of find dollars to do it,” Heartwell said. “So it does take a lot of the load off and allows us to add more services.”
Eric Lavoie, President of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta, said there are around 500 licensed nurse practitioners in the province and the demonstration projects will allow more nurse practitioners to treat patients in need.
Wayne Scott is a patient at The Alex who has mobility issues. But thanks to nurse practitioner Ashley Cherniwchan, Scott has been able to receive care at his home, including a potentially life-saving pneumonia diagnosis.
“They saved my life twice now,” Scott said of The Alex and his “dear friend” Cherniwchan.
“I didn’t even know that service was available.”
The Alex Community Health Centre provides low-cost or nocost health-care services at their walk in clinic at 1318 Centre St. N.E. and through their Dental Health Bus, Community Health Bus and the Youth Health Bus.