Province expanding nurse practitioner program

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on November 21, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The provincial government is expanding its nurse practitioner program to expand Albertans’ access to primary health care.

The province considers nurse practitioners to be a key part of the solution to the problem Albertans are facing getting primary health care.

Jennifer Mador, president of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta, expects more than 50,000 patients will be seen by nurse practitioners in the program which she calls a unique model in Canada.

Thirty three nurse practitioners are already practising independently in communities across the province, media heard in a morning press conference on Wednesday. Mador expects 50 to be practising within the next year.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said the province had 120 expressions of interest in the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program that was launched in April, the program which lets NPs practise comprehensive patient care autonomously, either working independently within existing primary care settings or by operating their own practices.

LaGrange said 56 of 67 submitted applications have been approved. They are working in cities and rural settings including Coaldale and Picture Butte. They are operating in a total of 18 communities so far.

Nurse practitioners are advanced registered nurses who are trained to assess the needs of patients, order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic tests, prescribe medications, diagnose diseases and make referrals to specialists, tasks which are normally done by a doctor.

Through the province’s nurse practitioner primary care program, NPs are paid to practice comprehensive primary care. They will offer services that are based on their training, scope of practice and expertise.

To be eligible for the program, nurse practitioners must meet several requirements which include:

• committing to provide medically necessary primary care services.

• building to a panel size of at least 900 patients.

• providing after-hours access on weekends, evenings or holidays.

• providing walk-in appointments while their patient panel is being established.

LaGrange said the government is “laser focused on strengthening primary health care throughout our province and we’re doing it through a myriad of actions,” including moving forward on recommendations from the Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health Care system initiative, providing stabilization funding for family physicians and introducing a rural and remote physician bursary pilot program.

The nurse practitioner program is also an important part of the province’s work to strengthen primary health care, the minister said.

The minister said more than 30,000 Albertans will have access to a primary health care provider through the program who didn’t have previous access.

“Nurse practitioners are part of the solution to expanding primary health care throughout our province and they are an integral part of the health care team,” said LaGrange.

Mador told media the program is “a unique model that’s the first of its kind to be offered to nurse practitioners across Canada. This model is an important step for nurse practitioners. It enables them to own and operate their practices, removing them from an employee based model into one where they can be enabled to practice to their full scope.”

Most are joining health care teams, she said, with the majority being established in rural communities.

“The NP primary care program will result in a large amount of Albertans within the next year and beyond to access primary care services,” Mador added.