Sleep apnea clinic provides service in Swift Current
A private clinic in Swift Current provides support and education to individuals who are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder.
It is one of several Provincial Sleep Group clinics in the province. Roxanne Brattan, the clinic manager for the Swift Current location, said the company operates clinics across western Canada.
“In Saskatchewan we actually have nine locations throughout the province,” she noted. “We offer level three home sleep testing for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. That testing is read by a specialist, who then determines if our patient has obstructive sleep apnea. If they do, then they're prescribed a treatment and we initiate the treatment for obstructive sleep apnea as well.”
The treatment is commonly referred to as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) or APAP (automatic positive airway pressure) therapy.
Individuals will usually come to the clinic after a physician referral, but self referrals can also take place.
“We usually do that through a questionnaire available on our website that takes about two and a half minutes,” she said. “It will ask questions specific to sleep quality and we'll let the user know the risk if they have or suspect sleep apnea. Then we'll do the sleep test and also get the referral from their physician to facilitate the referral as well.”
The clinic will provide the necessary equipment for a home sleep test, which a person will wear while they sleep.
“The level three home sleep monitor is just a little belt with a device on it that measures their oxygen level, their heart rate, chest movements, and breathing through flow for the airway,” she explained.
If positive airway treatment is required, the clinic provides the CPAP machine and mask, which will deliver compressed air to support breathing during sleep.
“It just uses room air to split the airway open to prevent it from collapsing at night if the airway relaxes too much,” she said. “So we initiate the treatment, and we do all monitoring and reporting back to the physicians to let them know that the treatment is effective for the patient with sleep apnea.”
The assessments, testing and follow-up care are done by a registered respiratory therapist or a registered nurse, while tests are scored and interpreted by an independent respirologist.
“We monitor our patients wirelessly, we provide support, and annual follow up care,” she said. “That means they come in, we assess their information on their devices, approach their doctor, try to troubleshoot issues they're having, make sure their equipment is functioning properly, and providing that overall support and care for them for the rest of their life.”
The wireless monitoring takes place through the machine’s own cell phone, which records the data on the device to ensure that a person’s airways stay open and that the treatment is effective. That data can then be reviewed if a patient has any concerns about the operation of the machine.
“That data comes back to our software program,” Brattan said. “We can actually go remotely, log in and see if there's an error message on the device or see if they're struggling on their treatment and we can actually intervene remotely and check on them and make sure things are going well. ... Technology has allowed us to do that connection and then it's also allowing us to report back to the physician easier and to intervene, and that's the most important part. The first three days on treatment are the most important, because if we don't get people comfortable on devices then they're less likely to put them on at night.”
There are four staff members at the Provincial Sleep Group clinic in Swift Current. They recently relocated to a new location near the Cypress Regional Hospital.
The sleep apnea clinic is leasing office space in a wing of the new Cypress Internal Medicine Clinic building, which held a grand opening on Feb. 26. The event also provided an opportunity for guests to tour the Provincial Sleep Group clinic.
Brattan approached Cypress Internal Medicine Clinic (formerly known as Central Medicine Clinic) while the new building was still under construction.
“It’s the perfect space for us,” she said. “It’s the right size, the right location. So all the chips essentially fell into place and we're very excited to lease from Cypress Internal Medicine group and call this place home.”
The Provincial Sleep Group clinic has been in Swift Current since July 2015 to provide a service to the southwest.
“We actually started with a one-room clinic in Walker Place,” she recalled. “It was kind of our introduction into the community to see is this service needed. We did that for probably six to eight months and realized this looks like this could be our home.”
The clinic then moved to another location on Cheadle Street West, but they also outgrew that space and therefore started to look for an alternative. Their new location on Saskatchewan Drive will suit their needs.
“We wanted to provide an even more efficient service and more staff available to our customers,” she said. “So now we're excited to say we're here, come on in and let's take care of you.”