THE EXAMINER/WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009
PAGE 7
Future looks bright
Homegrown plan of family health teams drawing more doctors.
Dr. Don Harterre was one of the pioneers who developed idea
BY JOANNE CULLEY patient sees the most appropriate per- Harterre says.
Special to The Examiner son for their health concern. Another important feature of the new
Doctors in Peterborough are telling
For example, if a patient has high cho- system is the centralized data base from
him it’s fun to come to work again, says
lesterol, he or she would see a dietician which health professionals can access a
Dr. Don Harterre.
who would help them make changes to patient’s electronic medical records.
That leads him to believe that the
their diet. That frees up for time for the With this system, a doctor can find out
team approach is working
family doctor to treat other cases. the results of a test another health pro-
Harterre is the lead physician of
Another bonus for patients is that fessional has ordered, to co-ordinate the
Primary Health Care Services of
many services that used to cost money, best treatment.
Peterborough, the organization that
such as consultations with a dietician or Medical students are also attracted by
implements the network of five Family
social worker, are now available free of the model.
Health Teams throughout Peterborough
charge. “Students training to be doctors and
county and city.
Family health teams are attracting nurses are learning from our experi-
Teams are made up of physicians,
new physicians to the area. ences,” Harterre says.
nurse practitioners, registered nurses,
“Fifteen new physicians have started “And the community is hopeful that
social workers, mental health profes-
in family practice in this area since four to six medical students from
sionals, dieticians, pharmacists and
January 2006,” Harterre says. “There Queen's University will work here in
clerical staff.
were only three in the five years previ- family medicine residency in the next
“As health professionals we want to
ous to that.” year or so.”
Special to The Examiner
deliver the best patient care possible
The teams can accommodate more The future looks bright for health care
Dr. Don Harterre stands in front of a sign
and help everyone work to their full
patients than single doctors working on in Peterborough.
promoting family health teams.
scope of practice,” says Harterre, the for-
their own.
mer Peterborough Regional Health
“We have
Centre chief of staff and a family doctor
p l a c e d
in Peterborough for 36 years. “We have
1 7 , 0 0 0
excellent people making up our teams.”
patients
There is close to 100 per cent buy-in by
since the
the area’s doctors, largely due to
f a m i l y
Harterre’s leadership and high standing
h e a l t h
in the community.
teams have
This has resulted in Peterborough
been imple-
being a model for primary care reform in
mented,
Ontario.
w h i c h
There are 150 family health teams in
brings the
Ontario, with provisions for 50 more.
total num-
“As I was getting ready to retire, I saw
ber of
that the number of doctors going into
patients in
family medicine was declining. Since
Peter bor-
family doctors are the point of entry into
ough with-
the system, if they’re not there, I knew
out a doctor
that something had to be done to change
down to
that,” he says.
a b o u t
With the family health team concept, a
6 , 0 0 0 , ”
SAVE
$
100
00
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