FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Person: Marilyn Butcher
Company Name: Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics
Phone Number: 705 671 1661
Website http:// sdnpc.ca
Three More Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics Open Doors to Ontario Patients
Sudbury, Ontario, February 20 2009: Canada’s first Nurse Practitioner-led clinic congratulates Sault Ste Marie, Belle River and Thunder Bay for improving access to health care for orphan patients. Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics (SDNPC) took the lead and opened the first clinic of this type in August of 2007, facing a sea of patients lined up in the parking lot on the first day of operations. Celebrations are in order as three more Ontario communities take part in the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s ground-breaking nurse practitioner initiative.
Patients soon learn that Nurse Practitioners (NPs) have additional education and advanced decision-making skills in assessment, diagnosis and management of simple and chronic illness, such as cancer and diabetes – for patients of all ages. NPs have authority to treat many illnesses and injuries as well as to write prescriptions for medications of many types. They also order laboratory tests, x-rays and other diagnostic exams, and can refer patients to any health care professional, including specialist physicians. Patient testimonials are accessible on the Sudbury clinic’s web site, www.sdnpc.ca .
Thousands more patients in the three communities will soon benefit from the skills of newly-formed teams of health care providers. These NP-led clinics will provide comprehensive primary care, which include the services of physicians, registered nurses, dietitians, social workers and other health care providers. Each patient will be registered to the clinic and see their NP for the majority of their health care needs. A physician, as part of the team, is available on site to collaborate on more complex care issues. Orphan patients live in fear of ending up in hospital, or even becoming an ALC statistic, by nature of the sporadic care they receive at walk-in clinics and overcrowded Emergency Departments. These NP-led clinics are part of the solution to Ontario’s growing primary health care challenge.
Funding for the NP-led Clinic initiative was announced by the McGuinty government in November 2006. Wait times and ALC are at the top of Health Minister Caplan’s agenda, with the first Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics opening a second site in Lively in the fall of this year. 25 NP-led clinics are planned for Ontario.
For more information about the Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics and their services see http://sdnpc.ca .