The Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice (Division) recently hosted BC’s Health Minister Josie Osborne to celebrate the work and collaboration happening in the community’s health care system.
On April 25th, partners and staff presented work the Division is leading to improve health care locally, as well as practice supports to retain physicians, funding partnerships, and strategies to enhance physician recruitment and enable patient attachment.
“It was really about the Division’s impact, and the changes we are making to patient care,” says Treena Innes, Executive Director of the Division. “It’s also about how the ministry investment has returned patient access and attachment, and the good work we’re doing on the ground.”
The meeting demonstrated the collective impact that the 36 Divisions of Family Practice provide throughout the province, made possible by the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC).
The Divisions of Family Practice are an initiative of FPSC, a partnership of the Doctors of BC and the Ministry of Health. Divisions throughout BC support family doctors to connect with each other and work with partners, such as the regional health authorities, local First Nations and community organizations, to address common health care goals, and improve patient care for all British Columbians.
Divisions of Family Practice play an integral role as the backbone support for the Primary Care Network (PCN) Steering Committee that enables PCNs to create opportunities for strong integration, partnerships and linkages of primary care and community services in the community. Collaboration between the Division and the PCN Steering Committee members is fundamental for implementing PCN strategies and attributes and advancing the Primary Care Strategy on the ground.
Divisions are funded to provide foundational support which means putting physicians in leadership positions side by side with the health authority, Ministry of Health and local community partners to make things happen on the ground—together.
And through the Ridge Meadows Division supporting the Ridge Meadows PCN Steering Committee, physicians in the community have been able to bring their voice to influence what their patients need and improve access to timely healthcare.
“In the 14 years I have been supporting physicians, I have never seen this type of patient care improvement change and speed—until the Primary Care Network,” Innes says. “The physicians asked for more mental health services, more seniors services, more pain services for their patients, and they got it. Not only were there new services added to our community, they also were able to shape and design the services that best worked for their patients in true partnership.”
The meeting was attended by members of the Fraser Health Authority, the Ministry of Health, and the local Primary Care Network and included a tour of the Ridge Meadows Wellness Centre, which is home to several allied health team members, plus Urgent Care and a primary care clinic.
“Meeting with the Minister was very exciting for our community,” says Dr. Melodie Prem-Smith, Board Chair of the Division. “She asked excellent curious questions to try to understand how making change on the ground works for patient care.”
