Saskatchewan announces new initiatives to enhance, expand nurse practitioner clinics

Women who are looking to book health appointments in Saskatchewan for reproductive help are being warned to be prepared to wait.
Nurse practitioner Joelynne Radbourne said patients are waiting four to six weeks to see a family practitioner.
“There are thousands of unmatched patients in Saskatchewan (who) do not have a family doctor or a nurse practitioner that they can see regularly or have access to in appropriate, timely fashion,” said Radbourne.
“We really do need more nurse practitioners and more physicians in our province. Plus, allowing the nurse practitioners and physicians here to have alternative funding models or billing models that do allow them to see more patients (so) they’re funded appropriately.”
Nurse practitioners are opening clinics, and many are taking on women’s health issues where they are filling the gaps.
Radbourne works in a private practice and says her patient wait time is two weeks but added that she keeps same-day appointments available every single day, which can be used for urgent care needs.
“Many women are waiting a year’s time to get in with their family doctor or their nurse practitioner to do routine pap screening,” she said. “I do have open access appointments to all residents of Saskatchewan to be able to allow to access pap screening appropriately in my clinic.”
On Tuesday, the province announced new initiatives to enhance utilization of nurse practitioners. According to a release, the Ministry of Health will work to pilot a new model for independently-operated, publicly-funded nurse practitioner clinics.
“Access to primary health care is a high priority for our government,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in a release. “By creating more opportunities for Nurse Practitioners throughout the health care system, we can improve access to primary health care services for Saskatchewan patients and their families.”
Radbourne said she is “very excited” about the alternative funding models, so she is open to more patients to access care services. She said would like to see the government reach out to her and the other nurse practitioner clinics to ask about the care they provide.
“I would like the government to reach out to us and ask us what is different about the care that we provide. How are our wait times? What is our patient panel load? How do we think that is improving care for our patients?” she said.
“I would like to see my clinic being publicly funded with an alternative funding model … right now, as a private clinic, only patients that have the ability to either afford my services or have third-party insurances can seek care through me.”
The province also added that 25 new nurse practitioner positions will be created over the next year under the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), including in SHA clinics and as part of primary health care teams.
The ministry will work collaboratively with the SHA, the Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners and other primary care stakeholders toward implementing these initiatives, the release read.