On April 2, family care clinics will open in Edmonton at the East Edmonton Health Centre and in Calgary at the East Calgary Health Centre. On April 16, the third clinic will open at the Associate Medical Clinic building in Slave Lake.
What is a family care clinic?
A family care clinic provides individual and family-focused primary health care programs and services that emphasize wellness as well as chronic disease prevention and management – all under one roof. Clinics will be staffed by teams of health care providers such as:
- nurse practitioners (NPs);
- registered nurses (RNs);
- licensed practical nurses (LPNs);
- counselors;
- dietitians;
- physical therapists (PTs);
- pharmacists; and
- family physicians.
See the Government of Alberta News Release.
On Monday, April 2, PC Leader Alison Redford announced in Strathmore that a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would create 140 family care clinics across Alberta over three years. (See Edmonton Journal article April 2, 2012)
In the Edmonton Journal article, the Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Linda Slocombe commented on her concerns about how these family care clinics will be funded, and how they will integrate with already established primary care networks — which operate on a similar but not identical model.