More than growing pains at Slave Lake

Re. “Slave Lake’s unique health clinic — a remnant of the Redford years — hits the five-year mark,” Aug. 12

When the family care clinic (FCC) opened, the community was promised 15 “primary-care providers:” eight doctors and seven nurse practitioners.

Today, there are five doctors accepting new patients in a radius of 120 kilometres in an area that serves more than 14,000 people. The number of nurse practitioners has fluctuated greatly with anywhere from three to seven available at any given time.

Without a family doctor, patients struggle to obtain continuity of care, a proven factor in positive health outcomes, life expectancy and quality of life. They are unable to see the same practitioner on a consistent basis and have no one to advocate for them.

Large numbers have found family doctors in other communities and make the long drive to receive care.

There is merit in a multidisciplinary model that includes nurse practitioners and other skilled professionals. There are some excellent people working in the clinic. But to claim the FCC is a “success story” that went through some “growing pains” is nonsense.

Many people in Slave Lake have lost faith in the system. It will take a great deal to prove they were not just guinea pigs in an experiment gone wrong.

Nicola Ramsey, Slave Lake