By Angela Hill

Alaska trip gives new ideas

Feb 17, 2011 | 12:09 PM

Doug Panter, Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Big River, says his participation in a Ministry of Health trip to Alaska was important for his community.

“It’s huge, it helps our local board for one thing, but it helps the whole community,” said Panter.

“Too me it has a huge benefit to have the community involved in that.”

Representatives for the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region, including Panter, made the trip to Anchorage to tour the Southcentral Foundation.

The foundation is a non-profit, Aboriginal health care organization with a strong focus on primary care.

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“I think one of the biggest learning was the impact that can be obtained by having those extra resources up front in primary care, versus at the back in acute care and our systems that are more focused on specific interventions,” said Connie Lee, director of primary health care with the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.

The focus of resources is different than the Saskatchewan system, a greater emphasis on prevention instead of catching up, she said.

Lee said she was impressed by how patient, called customer-owners, feedback was integrated in all aspects of healthcare from the foundation’s mission statement and vision to decision making.

There is also increased use of nurse practitioners in the Southcentral Foundation’s system. While the health region here has a good start, Lee said they could be used to an even greater extent.

“It depends how we see primary health care rolling out from this point forward in the province. It will be influenced by the decisions the ministry makes as far as what the primary health care redesign looks like,” Lee said.

Having nurse practitioners to assess patients for emergency services in rural areas is a role that Panter said he would like to see them fill in Big River.

The shortage of physicians in Big River has meant a greater reliance in the community on nurse practitioners, but Panter said it needs to go further and the community needs a new primary care model.

The next step is presenting what was learned to the health region board.

Lee said she needs to wait for direction from the Ministry of Health on the primary health care redesign before she can look at implementing any new plans.

ahill@panow.com