Some de-rostered patients in Sault Ste. Marie struggle to get into temporary nurse practitioner-led clinic

Some patients relying on a temporary nurse-practitioner-led clinic in Sault Ste Marie, Ont., say they're frustrated and unable to get timely health care.

Laurie Kendrick is advocating for her elderly parents..

Her father, Murray Patterson, 93 and her mother Eunice, 88, were among 10,000 patients de-rostered from the Group Health Centre in May.

Two doctors who left the Group Health Centre re-rostered some of those patients.

As for more than 6,000other orphaned patients, the province is funding a nurse practitioner-led clinic to provide primary care on a temporary basis while recruitment can take place.

Kendrick said trying to get an appointment for her mother at the clinic has been a nightmare .

She soon learned that she had to call immediately when the phone line opened at eight a.m.

If she couldn't get through, she'd get a voicemail message.

"I tried leaving a message because it said to leave a message and you would get a call back," she said. "And then I was told, when the person called me back later that day, don't do that again because you won't get a call. It's already filled.".

Typically, she said, appointments for the day were booked within 15 minutes and she'd have to try again the next day.

On her fourth attempt over two weeks, Kendrick said she got through and her mother was seen by a nurse practitioner.

Fortunately, she said her mother got the care she needed and she had a good experience.

However, things didn't go so smoothly for her father.

Kendrick said he began to complain of fatigue, but stalled when she suggested he go to the emergency room.

She tried to determine whether he needed to see a doctor and eventually took him when he collapsed in the bathroom one day from weakness,

He was admitted with internal bleeding and was hospitalized for a month.

It's something Kendrick felt would not have gotten so severe if he had access to a family doctor who would have been doing routine checks.

"They could have done blood work." she said. "They would have picked it up. They would have known instantly by the blood work something was wrong and he wouldn't have ended up going into the hospital as an emergency. It's scary because the doctor did tell him this was very serious, you could have died"

On top of all the other health concerns, both parents, she said, were diagnosed with dementia over the summer.

Kendrick is feeling the strain of having to fight for her parents' health care.

"It's hard to not be able to get more for your parents at this point and be powerless to make it easier for them instead of harder," she said.

Mark Molinaro, vice-president of United SteelworkersLocal 2251, was also de-rostered, when his family doctor wrote to say that she was not returning from maternity leave and closing her practice.

It's hard to not be able to get more for your parents at this point and be powerless to make it easier for them instead of harder.- Laurie Kendrick

He said he had one appointment with a locum doctor in July but then was told he was being transitioned to a nurse practitioner but hasn't heard anything since.

Molinaro said he needs regular blood work and check-ups because he has Type 2 diabetes.

He feels he and others have been let down by the system.

"It doesn't feel like we have universal health care in Canada, not here anyway," he said.

The CEO of the Group Health Centre said that while there haven't been any new doctors recruited, a plan to bring on more nurse practitioners is bearing fruit.

Lil Silvano says they're taking part in a provincial initiative called Grow your own Nurse Practitioner which helps interested nurses get training to become nurse practitioners, and said six nurses were interested.

Silvano said some patients have already been re-rostered with a nurse practitioner at the Group Health Centre, and the centre has hired another two.

They will gradually take on patients until the end of the year.

As for the temporary clinic, she said they currently have the equivalent of two full-time nurse practitioners but are trying to recruit more.

The difference between the clinic and the centre, she said, is that those patients rostered to a nurse practitioner at the centre will only be seen by that practitioner; while at the clinic, a patient may be seen by different providers.

However, Silvano says while gains have been made in recruiting nurse practitioners, the picture continues to evolve with three more doctors at the centre looking to retire in the next year, which could mean another six thousand patients being de-rostered and referred to the temporary clinic.

"I feel confident thatwe're going to be able to ride this," said Silvano."I feel that what makes us a little unique is having access to this clinic as well as (the program) Grow your own Nurse Practitioners. It gives us a little bit of ability to build some resilience."

'It's going very well'

Sault Ste. Marie Conservative MPP Ross Romano said doctor recruitment is the responsibility of a municipally-led committee and the area still does need more health care providers focused on family.

Sault Mayor Mathew Shoemaker was not available for an interview.

As for the temporary clinic,Romano said he's pleased the provincial government provided $2.8 million to get it going and itis meeting the needs of people who were de-rostered.

"I'm hearing from numerous people that it's going very well and they can get the prescription refills, they can get their appointments, and they're still getting the care that they need," he said.

"And it was a good out-of-the-box sort of thinking exercise that allowed us an opportunity to ensure that those people in Sault Ste.Marie still have access to primary care, that need access to primary care."

Romano said he has not heard anything negative about the clinic, or difficulties in getting appointments.