Last week, a question was asked of me regarding the lack of a Primary Care Network (PCN) in Barrhead. At first, I was somewhat confused because I did not understand what one was. I did some research of my own before reaching out to Luke Brimmage, the executive director of Aspen PCN in Westlock, a man interested in including Barrhead in the network he successfully manages. According to the Alberta Health website, a PCN is a group of family doctors who work with Alberta Health Services and other health care professionals to coordinate the delivery of primary care services for their patients. While PCNs are not-for-profit organizations, they operate as corporate entities with their own agendas, but the idea of medical professionals all working together for the common good seems like a pretty good idea to me. Brimmage told me there is some reluctance on the part of medical health care professionals in the area, in part, because of a concern over the confidentiality of patient information, with regards to the government’s access to it. Confidentiality is something physicians, nurses and other medical professionals hold in high regard, as they should. Brimmage also said they were worried about the impact it might have on their respective practices. I’ve been told these are unnecessary concerns, that the preconceptions about PCNs are groundless and undeserved, but I’m not privy to exact knowledge, mostly because I could not make contact with area doctors themselves. I would welcome the opportunity to do so. If it truly does not negatively affect their business and they only stand to benefit, because involvement is completely voluntary, costs nothing and individuals retain complete autonomy, as I was told by Brimmage, then in my opinion, it sounds like a no-brainer. I could be wrong, but at least I would go to the information session – unlike the ones the Aspen PCN executive director claims nobody really attended in the past. He said the president of the Aspen PCN’s board, doctor Michael Burger, as well as various people who have utilized the services in the past, would be in attendance at the Sept. 21 meeting, to answer any questions the attendees might have. However, the meeting will not be open to the public. Dr. Novida Pather is a member of the Aspen PCN, and Brimmage says there is interest from a handful of other people, so maybe Barrhead will join Westlock, Athabasca and other areas in the organization after all. I suppose stranger things have happened, so who knows?
