A new health clinic is scheduled to open up in Bashaw by the end of March.
The clinic will feature six part-time rotating physicians working out of the old Bashaw Hospital as part of the Bashaw Collaborative Health Model.
Local pharmacist Eric Gaudet is a member of the Bashaw Wellness Team, a volunteer committee that has come together to address health needs in the region.
“It’s really focused on team-based primary care,” he explained. “We’ve got a group of physicians and other health care professionals like nurses, and pharmacists, and in the future we’ll be having some mental health supports.”
Gaudet says the team-based care model is not new but also not that common. He compares the idea to education, where you have a school, and if you live in the catchment area, you are entitled to a spot in that particular school. It’s the same idea with the new medical clinic.
In addition to primary care, the new clinic in Bashaw will partner with community and social services to help with issues such as food and housing insecurity, in addition to employment support.
Services at the current clinic have been decreasing over the years, with the current physician set to retire and nurse practitioners moving out of the region.
“The timing of it is just right,” remarked Gaudet. “These other care providers are leaving. This new wellness centre will be opening up to fill that void.”
The new clinic, which will be open five days a week, will be available to those living in an area with boundaries similar to the Bashaw RCMP Detachment. This includes certain regions of Camrose County, Stettler County, Ponoka County, and Lacombe County.
Doctors will be funded through the traditional Blended Capitation Model, while other costs for nurses and office personnel will be paid for by the community. This includes a grant process through the Government of Alberta.
“It will operate like the traditional comprehensive family practice,” added Gaudet. “For those that have the benefits of having a family doctor, it will operate like that except that there will be a team that’s providing care. People will have an assigned family doctor that they will regularly see but when the family doctor is not available, the team will be available to make sure that people can get access to care.”
He says this model presents an alternate way to make sure that people can get care quickly so that they’re not waiting weeks on end to get care.
The goal is same or next-day appointments so patients don’t have to go to more expensive places like the emergency room to get care.
“We’re really excited to work with our health care providers and our community social services team to really try something new,” noted Gaudet. “Certainly this model is innovative and progressive and we’re really excited to hopefully show the province that this could be a new model for rural care delivery.”
The official opening date of the new clinic has not yet been announced.
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