BURK’S FALLS – Though health care services in the Burk’s Falls area have been drastically cut, a new team is poised to expand and improve access to care.
The Burk’s Falls Family Health Team (FHT) was officially unveiled last week and says it will soon be ready to accept new patients.
“In the near future we’re going to have days where people can apply to become patients of the doctors,” said FHT administrator Laurie Hutcheson.
The FHT currently has about 1,600 patients rostered for the two physicians heading the team – Dr. Andrew Albert and Dr. David Apramian.
“The doctors will be able to take on more local patients because that is the mandate of the FHT,” said Hutcheson.
The reasons for the increase in caseload for the two doctors and their new team are multiple, but the team has a lot to do with it. Working with the doctors is nurse practitioner Deborah Albert, who patients of the urgent care clinic that closed at the Burk’s Falls and District Health Centre (BFDHC) in June of last year will be familiar with.
Hutcheson says that the nurse practitioner will be capable of handling about 800 patients on her own, under the supervision of the physicians.
“We’re very fortunate that she wasn’t shipped to Huntsville to work in their emergency room,” said Hutcheson.
Other team support comes in the form of a registered nurse who can complete some of the tasks doctors would otherwise have to do; a mental health worker spending up to half of the workweek with the FHT, and administrative support that includes Hutcheson herself.
Hutcheson says the FHT is still working on how to best coordinate the supports for the patients, but is also facing other hurdles in maximizing the team’s potential.
“It takes time. You want to do things right the first time,” said Hutcheson.
One of the hurdles is the change BFDHC building the team is now working out of. Hutcheson says that until renovations are done to accommodate the new health services, team members are working in less than ideal circumstances. As examples, Hutcheson points out that the nurse practitioner has only one exam room, meaning patients have to leave before the next one can get ready to be seen and the registered nurse is currently working at a desk in a hall.
“That’s the next part of the phase, is to get more office space,” said Hutcheson.
Whether that space is found in the BFDHC building is up in the air.
Hutcheson says that there is no lease signed with the current, but disputed, owners of the building and no clear plans have been laid out to renovate the space from one that accommodated hospital beds to one more suitable for a multi-discipline primary healthcare practice.
The FHT does have meetings scheduled with council members from Armour and Ryerson townships and the Village of Burk’s Falls to find a solution for space, but no answers have been proposed publicly yet.
Last month, Burk’s Falls reeve Cathy Still, who sits on the board of the Burk’s Falls FHT, said she believed local municipalities would not invest in renovating the BFDHC while its ownership is being questioned.
Hutcheson is also quick to distance her team from a proposal that would see money, about $165,000, donated to the BFDHC when it was operating as a hospital be used for renovations for the FHT.
Asked if the FHT ever requested the money, Hutcheson was quick with a response of, “No.
“I was really surprised about it. The FHT isn’t necessarily committed to staying in this building,” said Hutcheson.
But she says that she and Albert and Apramian want to see the diagnostic imaging and lab specimen collection stay in Burk’s Falls and they do wonder about the future of both services. The services, along with physiotherapy, are operated by Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) – the board that administers the hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge.
And while the FHT ramps up preparations to add more patients, Hutcheson reports that the physicians and the nurse practitioner are taking in some ‘walk-ins’ and may continue to do so in the future.
In a follow-up email, Hutcheson writes, “I have confirmed with Dr. Albert that walk-in patients will be seen from the “382” area if they are “unattached (aren’t a registered patient with another local practice)” and if there is an available appointment. People should call in to ask before arriving here first. Tourists, or seasonal residents, will be seen if there is an appointment time available.”
The statement follows up on a response Hutcheson gave in an interview with the News where she said the FHT is not for patients who already have a physician locally.
And, she says, there remains hope that other physicians in the area will come on board with the FHT.
“The more patients we have, the more money we get. The more money we get the more services we can offer. That’s how everyone wins,” said Hutcheson.
She says that she and other members of the FHT are not actively recruiting other area physicians to join, but are concentrating on establishing the team and showing it as a model that works.
Hutcheson says that at no time has it been the FHT’s goal to replace the services offered by MAHC, but to provide the best care possible to their patients.
Asked how the FHT will determine its success, Hutcheson responded, “I would say it’s the patients of the FHT who will be the main evaluators of whether it’s a success. They should see improved services and care. The doctors will also see they have more time available to do what they should be doing, spending their time looking after their patients. The additional FHT services provided by the FHT in administration, clinical support, a registered nurse, a nurse practitioner and other health professionals are in place to cover the tasks a ‘lone’ practitioner would have to do themselves.”