Three local doctors participated in a "fireside" style chat on Thursday at the Peterborough Public Library discussing what a Community Health Center (CHC) would bring to Peterborough.
Jonathon Bennet, chair of the Community Health Centre Board, moderated the panel which consisted of three local physicians; Dr. Andrea Zukowski, a second-year family medicine resident; Dr. Jaclyn Vanek, of the Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine Clinic (RAAM); and Dr. John Beamish, a retired family physician.
The group advocating for the CHC has completed a proposal for the Ontario Ministry of Health to make Peterborough a candidate for a new centre. According to the Ontario Ministry of Health’s website, CHCs “are non-profit organizations that provide primary health and health promotion programs for individuals, families and communities.”
Thursday’s event had the local physicians answer questions about CHCs. The panel members were all in favor of Peterborough having a CHC, so the event was intended to inform the public about the benefits it would bring to Peterborough, especially marginalized community members. The CHC would be designed to provide medical care to community members called "complex patients."
“[Complex] patients do not just bring one problem to the door. They bring a variety of issues, be they social, health, or intellectual,” says Beamish.
In Peterborough, these "complex patients" are often unhoused, experiencing addiction, or part of a marginalized community. The panel identified that these patients need primary health care, but that Peterborough is not adequately equipped to provide that to them.
As Beamish says, the “dominant model” for healthcare in Peterborough is called the “fee for service model,” which means that, under this model, physicians are incentivized to see as many patients as possible. It also means this model is not effective when treating "complex patients," who require more time per appointment. The panel also called this the “traditional” model for health care, or the “7-minute appointment.”
“Physicians are in a salaried position in a Community Health Center Model. […] It allows a physician to be there with there patient without looking at their watch,” says Vanek.
Vanek also believes that this salaried “CHC model” is more appealing for physicians as well as patients because it allows her to work in a way “more in-line with [her] values.” Vanek said that this belief is shared by many other young physicians.
The panel believes that all the benefits associated with working at a CHC would bring more physicians to the community. They assured the audience that there would be no difficulty in building the staff of the CHC, if constructed.
The panel felt that CHCs are better to treat "complex patients" because of the variety, and flexibility, of health care they can provide.
“[Community Health Centers] are dependant on what the community needs,” says Zukowski.
The moderated discussion closed by allowing the audience to ask questions. They were asked about the current status of Peterborough’s application for CHC.
“We know it is in. We know it is under consideration. We do not know the timeline. […] It is actively being considered,” says Bennett.
Listen to the story below: