It’s been a busy first year for the staff at the Primary Care Network’s After Hours Clinic.
They are expecting to have seen close to 20,000 patients by the time they reach their one year anniversary on January 17.
PCN Communications Director Judd Dowhy says the first year has actually gone off almost without a hitch.
“That is absolutely to do with the fantastic staff. They work day in and day out, and they are amazing. Physicians come and go, we kind of have a loose rotation that they work on, but the staff, in terms of the nurses, clinical assistants, and receptionists, we’re full right up.”
While Dowhy says he isn’t sure what kind of impact the clinic has had on the hospital’s emergency room, they have still relieved the burden of 20,00 patients from other health care centres in the city.
“We want to be able to walk up to anyone on the street and say ‘Hey, do you know what the PCN is? Do you know you have a PCN in Grande Prairie? Do you know what we do?’ So that the general public has an idea of the services that we offer, and how we enhance the care that can be given by their physicians.”
The clinic is open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 10 pm on weekends, and from 5 to 10 pm on weekdays.