Collaborative Emergency Centre opens in Shaunavon

The Shaunavon Hospital and Care Center will be functioning as a Collaborative Emergency Centre (CEC) as of yesterday (Monday, Nov. 4).

Residents of the community and surrounding areas will benefit from extended primary health care clinic hours and sustainable emergency services.

Collaborative Emergency Centres are an innovative model that improves patient access to primary health care services. Since September, a team of physicians and nurse practitioners have been providing primary health care to residents in the communities of Shaunavon, Climax, Frontier, Eastend and surrounding areas from a newly renovated clinic within the Shaunavon Hospital and Care Center.

As of November 4th, extended hours of primary health care clinic services will be available. A team of physicians and nurse practitioners will be providing clinic services from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, seven days a week. Same day or next day appointments can be made by calling the clinic at 306-297-1940. Other health professionals including public health, mental health, chronic disease educators, home care staff, and others will also work together to provide a continuum of primary health services.

Urgent and emergent care during the daytime hours will continue to be provided by nursing staff with oversight from a local primary care physician. Local primary care physicians will also continue to support acute inpatient (hospital) and long-term care 24/7 at the Hospital and Care Center.

During the overnight hours of 8:00 pm – 8:00 am, a registered nurse and paramedic will be providing urgent care assessment, minor treatment and urgent care, in consultation with a physician working with the STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society) organization. The nurses and paramedics have been provided with advanced emergency skills training.

Greg Dunn, Cypress Health’s Director of Emergency Medical Services and Home Care, has been part of the health region’s team involved in the planning and implementation of the CEC model and he is supportive of the potential that the CECs offer. “The CEC model offers extended access to primary health care team members so that they can meet most patients’ needs proactively,” noted Dunn. “Seven day per week access to these professionals will help to provide extra opportunities for patients to see a physician or nurse practitioner for everyday needs, without having to visit the emergency department when they are not facing an urgent health situation.”

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Dunn also referred to the sustainable emergency services that will be available during all hours of the day. “The availability of an on-site registered nurse and paramedic during the overnight hours, with immediate support from a STARS physician specializing in emergency care and the region’s team of qualified emergency ambulance staff, will offer a continuum of urgent care to patients who require these services.”

The province’s first CEC was implemented in the Maidstone Health Complex earlier this fall. In conjunction with the Ministry of Health, plans are underway for the implementation of several additional CECs throughout the province within the coming months.

Additional details on the Shaunavon CEC site are available from the Cypress Health website at http://www.cypresshealth.ca. For more information on CECs and primary health care in Saskatchewan, visit the Ministry of Health website at http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/primary-health-care.

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