Welcome to the September 2022 edition of the PCN Newsletter. Read on for our funding update and to learn how the virtual clinic is supporting the primary care crisis, and more!

PCN 2.0 Update: New Funding Approved to Expand the PCN

In late August, we announced that we’d received approval for the first phase of funding to expand the KB PCN.  This new funding will allow us to immediately invest over $1.6 million of new annual funding into our local primary care system to onboard new PCN clinics and expand regional PCN services.  The Ministry of Health has also approved our request for five additional new-to-practice (NTP) physician contracts. Combined, this represents a significant investment into our local primary care system, and is a testament to the success of our PCN to date.  You can read the full funding announcement here.

Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks and months to come about the next steps towards PCN expansion and optimization. 

Update: Changes to PCN Lead role

For the past six months, Nikko Snyder has worked as the Interim PCN Lead for the Division of Family Practice while Julius Halaschek-Wiener took on the role of the Division’s Interim Executive Director. 

Julius has now returned to the PCN, and going forward (beginning September 5) Nikko and Julius will share the role of PCN Lead. They will continue to work closely with the PCN Steering Committee and the PCN Change Team to implement the expansion of the KB PCN over the coming months. 

Please reach out to either Nikko or Julius with questions!

Health Connect Registry: Using Priority Enrollment to Refer Complex Patients

If your clinic is experiencing the retirement/departure of a practitioner whose complex patients cannot be absorbed by other clinic practitioners, the Health Connect Registry (HCR) can help facilitate re-attachment through the priority enrollment process.

To refer a complex, urgent or semi-urgent patient for priority enrollment in the HCR, please complete the KB HCR priority enrollment form for each urgent patient and fax it to 1-833-979-1008. Our HCR Primary Care Coordinator will contact patients directly to register them on the HCR, and assist in facilitating their attachment, either with local clinics accepting patients or with the KB Health Online regional virtual clinic. 

Please reach out to Alison, the HCR Primary Care Coordinator at kbhcr@kbdivision.ca for more information about the priority enrollment process and how the HCR can support your clinic. 

KB Health Online: Using Virtual Care to Help Alleviate the Primary Care Crisis

The KB Health Online virtual clinic is helping to address the primary care crisis by providing temporary longitudinal care for high priority unattached patients who are referred from specialists, emergency departments, maternity services, Aboriginal services and the HCR. The clinic is receiving on average 50 priority referrals each month to support complex medical care for patients who do not have a longitudinal provider. 

KB Health Online does not operate as an episodic walk-in clinic, but as a full service team based primary care clinic supporting patients. The virtual clinic is also addressing a PCN core attribute by offering expanded access to patients on weekends and evenings.

One KB Health Online patient recently spoke to the benefits of this approach: “Before KB Health I had no primary healthcare provider. For many years I have had to use walk-in clinics and emergency care for access to medical services. I feel very fortunate to have support from the team at KB Health. I feel respected, cared about, cared for, by everyone on the team and especially by the Nurse Practitioner who is overseeing my medical care. She is attentive, thorough, patient, and kind. I feel that I am no longer slipping through the cracks in the system, and someone actually cares. It is the best experience that I have ever had in the medical system. KB Health is offering a better way of delivering patient care in the Kootenays. Thank You”.

Cultural Safety Resources

Cultural Safety Talking Circles
2nd Tuesday of each month 12:00-1:00 pm (next date is September 13)

These small group sessions allow a safe space to discuss experiences related to Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility. All members of PCN clinic teams are encouraged to attend, even if you’ve attended in the past.  Encourage a colleague to join you.  Register here.

Cultural Safety Toolkit 
Visit kbculturalsafety.org to explore the 'Cultivating Culturally Safe Care in Your Clinic' Toolkit, an inventory of Aboriginal patient resources to support and enhance the practice of Indigenous cultural safety and humility in KB.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 30, 2022 marks the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honouring the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities. While this is a national holiday, we hope you are able to take some time on this day to consider what reconciliation means to you at this time.  Consider reading the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to action specific to health, 18-24 and reflect on  your clinic, work environment and personal practice and what progress each is making towards these calls to action.  The Circle of Indigenous Nations Society in Castlegar will be hosting a community event from 11am to 1pm to observe this important day in a meaningful way.  Watch their Facebook page for event details. 

Learning Lab

The August Learning Lab was held in person and was a wonderful opportunity to be together.  The following Learning Labs are scheduled for this fall:

• September 8 - Trauma Informed Care

• October 6 - Chronic Pain

If you are interested in learning more or participating, please  contact Alicia.

Quality Improvement

Patient Experience Survey
The results from the 2022 Patient Experience Survey (PES) are now available.  Individual clinic PES reports have been developed and will be sent to clinics that received sufficient responses in early September and the regional results are available here.  

The results of the 2022 survey must be interpreted carefully, especially when compared to the results of the 2019 survey.  The PES was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was also a period of significant primary care provider turnover.  Please see slide 3 in the regional results for contextual information to help interpret the results.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills Virtual Group program

A new MSP-funded, evidence-based mental health program that is being provided by family physicians and psychiatrists from across the province is now open for referrals. 

The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Skills Group program helps patients learn practical tools to improve their mental health. Up to 15 adult patients with mild-moderate mental health conditions participate in a group medical visit for 8 weeks. Physicians and nurse practitioners across the province can refer to the program now and patients enroll and participate online, with little to no waitlist. 

Although referrals need to come from FPs or NPs, this program can be optimally integrated with the work of the PCN Social Workers.

See the CBT Skills Group website and this explanatory video for information about the program and how to refer. Please review this letter for referral instructions, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the referral form (also available on some EMRs).

Welcoming New Staff

Welcome to our new PCN team members who have joined since our last newsletter!

Bailey Ames, RN, Rock Creek Health Centre (supporting unattached clients until Nov 2022 )
Jeannie Babiak, PCN MOA, Interior Health