May 3, 2015
1751
The loss of two doctors in Kincardine this summer, will not mean a return of the orphan clinic, says Gerry Glover, chief executive officer of the Kincardine Family Health Team.
Also office manager of the Kincardine Community Medical Clinic, Glover says the practice closures by Dr. Rejean Duwyn and Dr. Steven Poirier were difficult personal decisions.
"Both physicians express their appreciation for the understanding of their patients, the municipality, the supportive and welcoming community, as well as their respective clinic staff," says Glover. "We can confirm, the practice closures were not a reflection on the community, staff or patients, and have solely been a personal decision.
"We recognize the unfortunate circumstance in that both physicians are departing, coincidentally, on the same date; however, the departures are very amicable. We wish both physicians the very best in their future endeavours and we are all tremendously appreciative and grateful for their years of service to our communities."
Glover says the medical team appreciates that the closures will result in inconvenience and stress, and it is developing a co-ordinated plan to address patient concerns, which includes, but is not limited to:
As part of the co-ordinated plan, patients will be temporarily assigned to one of the remaining physicians at the clinic, says Glover. This phase of the plan is currently under way.
"Physicians will not be rostering assigned patients, to ensure the affected practices remain intact to assist physician recruitment initiatives," says Glover. "Over the coming weeks, patients will be notified via letter of their assigned physician and advised that family practice appointments may be scheduled with their temporarily-assigned physician after July 17.
He adds that there is no obligation of any patient to remain rostered at the Kincardine clinic and they are free to seek medical attention wherever they may choose.
The remaining physicians will be tasked to provide the best possible emergency room (ER) coverage, says Glover. "That being said, the physician recruitment team is exploring all options and considerations to assist the remaining physicians, to ensure necessary coverage arrangements. We encourage anyone who experiences an acute event to proceed to the emergency department; however, if patients are experiencing situations that could be best managed elsewhere (for example, in a family or primary care practice), patients are urged to contact their primary care provider's office to schedule an appointment."
Glover has some good news to report as well. Julia Higgins has been hired to fill the job of nurse practitioner with the Family Health Team. She will start up the FAST Clinic, effective Monday, May 4. The FAST Clinic is specifically designed to assist with ER diversion, with the nurse practitioner seeing scheduled patients for conditions that are of a lower acuity and best managed away from the emergency department.
Written ByLiz Dadson is the founder and editor of the Kincardine Record and has been in the news business since 1986.
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