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…

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…

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…