Sudbury District Nurse Practioner Clinics

T

he Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics (SDNPC) opened its doors to patients during the summer of 2007. The current clinic site is located near the downtown core in the Greater City of Sudbury. SDNPC  provides locum health care services in Chapleau  and a third site in the town of Lively, within the Greater City of Sudbury was announced January 2007. Our Lively site which is currently under development, will be housed in vacant municipal property. This clinic represents a bold step forward in primary health-care delivery because it provides patients who do not have a family physician with access to comprehensive primary care.  This model of care also utilizes nurse practitioners in a way that allows them to practice to their full scope of practice and recognizes their unique contribution to the health-care system as vital and necessary if Ontario is to meet the current challenges facing the system. SDNPC provides clinical educational opportunities for nurse practitioner, nursing, medical and medical secretarial students.

Sudbury District NP Clinics offer all the services that patients can expect from any family practice.  The care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of nurse practitioners and physicians.  Nurse practitioners (NPs) are the primary health-care providers for patients accessing health care at the clinic. NPs complete patient intakes, physical assessments and send patients for diagnostic testing.  They diagnose and prescribe medication for a variety of illnesses and monitor stable chronic illness.  Many of the patients will only need to see their nurse practitioner; however, physicians are available to see patients on site and are also available for consultation with the nurse practitioners when necessary.  The clinic has hired two medical secretaries / receptionists as well as a business administrator who are integral to the operations of the clinic as they ensure that providers have proper support in their roles and can focus on patient care.

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At present, we are the only family practice in the City of Greater Sudbury accepting new patients and this ability to care for the so-called “orphan patients” has made an impact locally and provincially. Our practice will grow to caring for over 4 500 patients when we are at final staff and space complement. After visiting the clinic in April 2008, Premier McGuinty announced funding for 25 additional NP Clinics based on the Sudbury model. It is expected that the first 3 of those clinics will be announced shortly. There has been a keen interest in our clinic model by media, politicians and the general public.

Funding from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care of Ontario will enable SDNPC to expand the current team of providers to include a dietician, pharmacist, social worker and a registered nurse in order to better meet the needs of our patients. These providers will be hired in 2009 as space permits.

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The development of this clinic was possible due to the support of many, including the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, which announced funding for the project in November 2006, Sudbury area nurse practitioners, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the Nurse Practitioner Association of Ontario, the City of Greater Sudbury, Chapleau Health Services and The Township of Chapleau.

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