March 08 2015 Category: General

 

Mental health support focuses on solutions

SZYMON Apanowicz spends his day helping people regain their life balance. “For many patients, it is the first time they’ve really opened up to someone about the way they feel,” he says. One of 14 behavioural health consultants with the Calgary Foothills PCN, Szymon provides short-term mental health support for patients referred by their family doctor. Appointments typically take place in the physician’s clinic. Range of issues: Some patients may be coming to terms with a physical d…

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October 01 2014 Category: Patient Stories

 

Healthy relationship with food on menu

WHEN Frank and Karla Mah became concerned about the long-term effects of over-eating, they turned to family doctor Andrew Eddy for help. “We’ve both struggled with weight since we turned 40,” Karla says. “We were concerned about how it might affect our blood pressure and cholesterol levels.” As it turned out, Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network had just started Craving Change™, a free program designed to help people build a healthier relationship with food. The couple decided t…

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October 01 2014 Category: Patient Stories

 

Team visits patients at home, ‘Eyes, ears’ of a doctor’s clinic

Team assesses patients' needs in their homes As a personal care nurse, Rosalyn Watson built a long and successful career out of helping others. But when the Calgary senior developed health problems of her own and was forced to take a leave of absence from her job, she felt overwhelmed and turned to her family doctor for help. Dealing with chronic dizziness, a lack of mobility and financial and personal stress as she waited for head and neck surgery, she was referred to the Calgary Foothil…

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September 29 2014 Category: General

 

Program benefits new grads, patients

For new graduate Dr. Janice Lui, Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network’s decision to start the New Grad Program could not have come at a better time. Launched in July 2013, the program exposes new family medicine graduates to different clinics, while providing mentoring support. It also expands access to primary care services because the new graduates see member physicians’ patients, including those who call for same-day appointments. The new graduates say treating another doctor’s patien…

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September 28 2014 Category: General

 

Emergency department refers patients to PCN after hours

If there is a silver lining to the dark cloud of the Alberta floods of 2013, it could be the new Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network and Foothills Medical Centre emergency department referral program. Initiated last June during the floods as patient numbers grew, emergency department staff directed suitable patients to PCN-managed after hours clinics. Some 27 patients were sent to Calgary Foothills PCN’s after-hours clinic, Access 365. During a subsequent pilot program that ran from D…

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September 28 2014 Category: General

 

Drug switch a ‘life-changer’ for patients

Family doctors now proactively help groups of patients to improve the health of all Improving the life of just one patient is a true success story for any treating physician and team. Radically transforming the care of almost 20 is a major achievement. Over the past year, the lives of many of Dr. Ted Jablonski’s patients got a whole lot better, thanks to an innovative practice enrichment project. The drug-switching initiative took 4 months initially and involved at least 6 staff. But patie…

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September 02 2014 Category: Patient Stories

 

Health Home – family doctor’s clinic – opens doors

Expecting her first child, Jane Wickenheiser discovered she could access all the pre- and postnatal care she needed through her family doctor's clinic, her Health Home. After discovering her long-time family doctor had retired, the Calgary school teacher found a new physician via the city-wide Find a Doctor website. Network-wide services Because her new doctor was a member of Calgary Foothills PCN, Jane was able to access specialist care and treatment (that is available to all patients of P…

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June 05 2014 Category: Patient Stories

 

Losing to win: on the path to good health

OVER the past year, Kevan Austen has lost 4 pant sizes, 4 shirt sizes and more than 110 pounds. The self-confessed 1-time couch potato has shed his sedentary life and unhealthy eating habits, tackling a workout on 362 of the past 365 days. “There’s no more sitting around eating bags of chips and watching movies or looking for excuses to sit around,” Austen says. “This is my new life and the goal is simple: to live and be healthy.” Tackling Unhealthy Habits Flash back to February 2013…

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June 01 2014 Category: Patient Stories

 

Caring team brings peace of mind

It is not just the residents who value Tammy Rogers, nurse practitioner at the Bethany Care Centre in Cochrane. Their families say she gives them peace of mind. “Tammy listens to our concerns,” says the daughter of one resident. “We have a rapport with her.” Since 2007, a Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network (PCN) nurse practitioner has worked within Bethany Cochrane to increase residents’ access to primary health care. A team effort Day-to-day, Rogers works closely with each res…

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March 08 2014 Category: General

 

Emergency referral pilot hailed, set to continue

Patient Michael Malone, who presented at Foothills Medical Centre with a cyst on his back in 2013, was one of the first patients referred from Foothills Medical Centre to Calgary Foothills PCN’s Access 365 Clinic under a new referral pilot. “(The care) was amazing,” he says. “They got rid of the cyst on my back quickly and I had to come back a number of times for them to pack and bandage it. “They showed me such kindness and all knew me by name by the time I was done.” New referr…

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