Improving Access to Primary Care in Rural Saskatchewan: Lessons from Two Patient Medical Home Initiatives

Session description

As the health impacts of climate change intensify and care systems recognize their own significant environmental footprint, primary care clinics across Saskatchewan face increasing pressure to improve patients’ access to care while supporting physicians’ wellbeing. In response to these challenges, two private clinics in southern Saskatchewan implemented a team-based care model informed by the Patient Medical Home vision.

Over the last couple years, a Saskatchewan research team conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of these initiatives to examine their implementation process and their contribution to primary care transformation.

In the second installment of our Patient Medical Home series, you will explore:

• Key factors that shaped the Patient Medical Home implementation process.

• An overview of the context and evolution of these two Patient Medical Home initiatives, followed by the main research findings.

• The perceived outcomes of Patient Medical Home implementation for patients, family physicians, and the broader health system.

Guest Speakers

Dr. Coralie Darcis

Coralie Darcis is a sociologist from Belgium whose research focuses on health systems, organizations, and public policy. She earned her PhD in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Liège, where she examined mental health policies aimed at improving coordination and integration among services. In September 2023, she relocated to Canada and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Mainly relying on qualitative methods, her current work focuses more specifically on primary care and models of care delivery.

Curtis Newton

Curtis is the Director Primary Health Care with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and works in private practice. He is passionate about improving health quality with data supported approaches and team-based care. Curtis is a graduate of the School of Rehab Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan and has been assessing and treating vertigo since receiving his vestibular rehab certification from Emory University in Atlanta. An improvement enthusiast at heart, Curtis completed the Saskatchewan Leadership Program in 2015, Lean Improvement Leaders training in 2017, Clinical Quality Improvement Program in 2019, Johnson Shoyama – Excellence in Healthcare Leadership certificate in 2023, and is currently enrolled in Healthcare Excellence Canada’s EXTRA executive training program.

Session Recording

Session Materials

Session slides