August 15 2015 Category: General, Patient Stories

 

Find a Doctor in Calgary

WHEN Linda Sayers began her search for a family doctor, her son’s pediatrician recommended she register on the Find a Doctor website. “I’ve never really had a family doctor,” says Linda. “I’ve just gone to walk-in clinics. It (has been hard) to find a family doctor in this city, so I was thankful for the website. It was easy to find and registering didn’t take long." The Find a Doctor Website The Find a Doctor registry is an online service that connects residents of Cal…

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August 08 2015 Category: General, Patient Stories

 

Wellness role strives to educate, empower

FORMER Stampeder Fred James wanted to find out whether making lifestyle changes could help lower his cholesterol levels when they spiked last year. So family physician Dr. Lindsay Jantzie referred him to health management nurse Neelam Shah to discuss strategies that could make a significant difference. “I wanted to see if I could get my cholesterol levels down by consciously doing the things I needed to do—eating better and exercising,” Fred says. “I wasn’t ready to start taking [pre…

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July 03 2015 Category: General, Patient Stories

 

Get happy: workshops show you how

Happiness Basics is a workshop offered by Primary Care Networks in the Calgary area to help people learn skills that make them happier Take a deep breath. Reflect on it. Do you feel happy? It’s easy to think happiness—and the swirl of emotions that help it grow—are beyond your personal control. Research, however, shows the way happy people behave links directly to the positive way they feel. Those behaviours are skills each of us can learn and use to feel happier and improve our he…

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June 29 2015 Category: General, News Releases

New website helps Calgary patients Find A Doctor

April 08 2015 Category: General

 

Food choices fuel new outlook on life

AFTER learning he was overweight during a visit to his doctor, John-David Malta embarked on a 10-month battle to trim down. Eight months later, after not losing weight, John-David asked to be referred to a dietitian at his doctor’s clinic. Together, they discussed a range of food-related health issues, including how John-David could make healthier food choices and limit portion sizes. Gaining valuable health information: Two months after speaking with registered dietitian Kari Derbyshire, …

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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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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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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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