May08 VS.indd - Calgary & Area Physician's Association

Vital Signs is published 11 times annually (not published
in August) by the Calgary & Area Physician’s Association
(CAPA) in partnership with the Calgary Health Region.
www.capa.cc
Editors:
Dave Lowery, CAPA – bethere@shaw.ca
Joanne Anderson, Calgary Health Region
–joanne.anderson@calgaryhealthregion.ca
Editorial advisory board:
Dr. Mark Joyce – mjoyce@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Ian Wishart – ianwishart@shaw.ca
Submissions:
Vital Signs welcomes submissions (articles, notices,
letters to the editors, announcements, photos, etc.)
from physicians in the Calgary region and from Calgary
Health Region staff. Please limit articles to 600 words or
less.
Please send any contributions for the attention of:
CAPA
Dave Lowery: E-mail: bethere@shaw.ca, tel: 243-9498.
Calgary Health Region
Joanne Anderson:
E-mail joanne.anderson@calgaryhealthregion.ca
tel: 943-1257
Vital Signs reserves the right to edit article submissions and
letters to the editor.
Deadline:
The deadline for article submission to Vital Signs is the 15th
day of the month for distribution the fi rst week of the following
month.
Next deadline is May 15, 2008.
Contributors:
The opinions expressed in Vital Signs are those of the
authors and do not necessarily refl ect the opinions or
positions of the CAPA, CAPA executive or the Calgary Health
Region.
CAPA executive - Please feel free to contact your
representative with any concerns or issues.
Dr. Linda Slocombe, CAPA president
Phone: 861-8423
Dr. D. Glenn Comm, CAPA past president
Phone: 850-0718
Dr. Corinne Dyke, CGH MSA president
Phone 777-3009
Dr. Brendan Hughes, CGH MSA vice president & treasurer
Phone 943-5461
Dr. Douglas Thorson, RGH MSA president & treasurer
Phone 253-7355
Dr. James Janzen, RGH MSA vice president
Phone 943-3410
Dr. Liam Martin, FMC MSA president & treasurer
Phone: 220-7725
Dr. Sean Grondin, FMC MSA vice president & treasurer
Phone: 944-8798
Dr. Jennifer R. MacPherson, ACH MSA president
Phone: 252-6651
Dr. Mark Montgomery, ACH vice-president & treasurer
Phone: 955-7882
Dr. Patti Edgar, rural MSA president
Phone: 762-4846
Dr. Grant Hill, rural MSA vice-president & treasurer
Phone: 938-1424
Dr. Blythe K. Brown, PCPA president
Phone: 269-9488
Dr. Stephanie Kozma, PCPA member at large
Phone: 258-3000
Dr. Phillip Van Der Merwe, PCN rep
Phone: 640-4320
Dr. Prem Chengalath, CAPA & PCPA VP & treasurer
Phone: 241-8848
Dr. Inderman, H. Jadusingh CMS representative
Phone: 249-0611
Dr. June Bergman, PCN rep
Phone: 210-9200
Contributing members
Dr. David Megran, CMO
Phone: 943-1180
Dr. Peter Jamieson, chair, medical advisory board
Phone: 943-1277
Dr. Robin Cox, CPSA representative
Phone: 943-7260
Sean Smith, director, practice management program
Phone: 266-3533
Dr. Brock Debenham, PARA rep
Phone: 456-4338
Web site: www.capa.cc
Administration offi ce phone: 943-1270
Administration offi ce fax: 943-1297

Columns:
May 2008
From the president: Sustainability . . . the new buzz word --- 4
Member business alliance (MBA) update ------------------------ 6
Home care update -----------------------------------------------------11
Features:
Form is not a four-letter word ---------------------------------------- 7
Region physician helps fl ood-ravaged African villages -------- 8
News:
Contents
Debrief provides insight into region’s effectiveness ------------ 5
Connecting the dots on capacity issues -------------------------- 5
New collaborative care model planned for Calgary ------------ 6
New physicians receive board approval ------------------------ 10
Safety learning reporting system update ------------------------11
Bulletins & notices ---------------------------------------------------- 12
On the cover: Dr. Connie Ellis (right) with Shannon Erfl e
and two “notorious” four-letter objects.
Photo by Dave Lowery

Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 4
From the CAPA president
As you will read in this issue of Vital Signs, there is a new CHR
initiative that is hoping to make form not the dreaded word it is now.
Talk to any family doctor about forms and requisitions and you will
likely get an earful. Talk to any specialist about the referral letters they
get and you will likely also get an earful. The new medical access to
services project is a good news story. At fi rst the 30 page instruction
manual is a tad overwhelming but the end result is a simple one page
referral form which can be used for referrals to most of the internal
medicine specialities. The next challenge will be to expand this
program to include other specialities and further decrease the burden
of paperwork in the modern doctors offi ce. A laudable goal indeed!
Since we are discussing the emotions a single word can convey,
I would like to discuss the new buzzword in the medical lexicon –
sustainability. We see this word being used almost ad nauseum by
politicians and administrators alike. Do we really know what this
word means? To quote Peter Foster in the Financial Post “it is the
Orwellian dumber-down of debate.” This is certainly true in relation
to healthcare. Who would advocate unsustainabililty? This brings me
to the press release by the Alberta Government surrounding the action
plan for healthcare. Who could argue with Minister Ron Liepert’s
statement that “our top priority is to improve accessibility and the
future sustainability of the health system. The outcome of the plan is a
sustainable, effective and effi cient health system that provides quality
patient-focused care to Albertans.”
It was with real anticipation I looked forward to some concrete
plans from the government to tackle the family medicine crisis,
the unacceptable emergency room waits and the lack of long term
care beds to name a few. Instead, we have future dates for future
announcements. Funding appears to be a completely separate issue
not necessarily tied to the action plans. And to use that ‘s’ word again,
the provincial government has said that increases to the province’s
health budget, which are often in the double digits, are not sustainable.
Yet the calls for immediate action include expanding addiction and
mental health services, expanding healthy lifestyle initiatives and
expanding educational spaces for health care professionals. In fact, all
of the calls for immediate action will involve increases in the current
levels of funding. How does one promote a sustainable health system
with unsustainable funding levels! The debate we should have is not
whether we need a sustainable health care system but what does that
mean and how do we get there.
Sustainability . . . the new buzz word
Dr. Linda Slocombe,
CAPA president
Phone: 861-8423

Debrief provides insight into region’s effectiveness
By Carly Woolsey, CHR communications
A recent debriefing session
marked the end of the research phase
and the beginning of the review
process for the Calgary Health
Region’s accreditation process. The Canadian Council on Health
Services Accreditation (CCHSA) provided a general debrief on the
results of its week-long survey where a group of health services
experts assess the region on its quality and safety practices utilizing
national standards.
The debrief presentation provided a glimpse of the strengths and
opportunities the surveyors identifi ed while speaking to front line
staff, site managers, physicians, patients, corporate services and other
support staff, administrators and board members.
“The accreditation survey results show us what is relevant to the
region today and where we are at right now, what we can do to improve
and what processes are working for us,” says Val Austen-Wiebe,
executive director, health outcomes.
Some of the strengths identifi ed by the surveyors were related to
the collaboration that they see taking place throughout the region in
relation to patient fl ow and emergency preparedness. The surveyors
remarked that they were impressed with programs such as chronic
disease management, the patient/family safety council, and education
By Carly Woolsey, CHR communications
The Calgary Health Region’s
GRIDLOCC (getting rid of
inappropriate delays that limit our
capacity to care) project celebrated
its one year anniversary by refl ecting on what has been accomplished
over the past year and evaluating where it is heading.
The anniversary event, called Year One Review – Connecting the
Dots, was held at the Red and White Club and was attended by over
150 region staff and physicians. At the event, presentations were given
on Lean Six Sigma initiatives that are part of the overall GRIDLOCC
project.
These presentations showcased how staff, physicians and quality
improvement consultants have all worked together to address
capacity issues faced by region sites. The Alberta Children’s Hospital
emergency department team presented on their initiative which looked
at decreasing the length of time it took for patients to see a physician
upon entering the department by creating zones in the emergency
department to stream patients. The Peter Lougheed Centre emergency
department team also presented on their initiative to reduce the time
and training efforts that reach deep into the organization such as the
safety policy roll out.
Areas identifi ed for improvement or continued focus include
a region-wide review of the client consent form process to ensure
compliance with region policies, and improved communication
with staff and physicians on organizational issues such as capacity,
access and ethics, particularly when ideas from front line staff are
implemented .
At the debrief, Calgary Health Region president and chief operating
offi cer, Dr. Chris Eagle, said that the accreditation process is important
because it is peer-reviewed learning.
“Through this process we receive feedback on a lot of things to
think about and improve upon. The Calgary Health Region appreciates
the presence and efforts of the CCHSA surveyors as well as the
participation of our staff in this process.”
The accreditation process within the Calgary Health Region is a
three-year sequential program which began in 1999. This year marks
the beginning of a new three-year cycle. The fi nal report will be sent
to the Calgary Health Region in six months.
Connecting the dots on capacity issues
it took to diagnose and discharge patients by streamlining the process
to request old patient charts and reallocating physicians in minor
treatment and RAZ (rapid access zone).
The morning event was capped off by closing remarks from Dr.
Rob Abernethy, vice president & associate chief medical offi cer for
the Calgary Health Region. He spoke about tackling capacity issues
within the region and the importance of staff and physician support
of the overall GRIDLOCC project.
“Our staff and physicians have risen to the occasion to make
GRIDLOCC successful. It was done in the best interest of our patients
and we couldn’t do it without the hard work of our frontline staff.”
The upcoming year will see GRIDLOCC focus on key areas
such as improving the physician consult process in the emergency
department as well as spreading lean discharge best practices. An
evaluation process will also take place that will look assess the success
of initiatives that have taken place over the past year. This evaluation
will help the regional capacity committee to focus on priority areas
for improving access to services.
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 5

Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 6
Member business alliance (MBA) update
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New collaborative care model planned for the Calgary Health Region
By Janice Harvie, CHR communications
Workforce shortages are
wreaking havoc on the health care
system. Some of the most visible
effects are closed beds, dissatisfied patients and burned out,
disillusioned staff.
Aggressive recruitment and retention strategies are being
implemented. In addition to ‘pumping up the volume’ with increased
staff numbers, the Calgary Health Region will soon embark on a large
scale system and culture change to deliver care via a collaborative
care model that will ultimately take root in about 80 per cent of
service areas.
Dubbed the ‘workforce optimization initiative,’ the plan is to
reorganize the workforce (where appropriate) to realize greater
effi ciency and effectiveness in health services delivery. The initiative
is fi scally neutral.
“The literature supports this vision and we’ve brought a number
of strategies and projects involving education, data profi ling, clinical
leadership development, regulatory and HR changes and others under
our umbrella to ensure the entire effort is coordinated and builds
on existing good work,” says Dr. Jim Silvius, VP & associate chief
medical offi cer responsible for patient care innovation and health
technology, and a practicing geriatrician at Rockyview General
Hospital. Dr. Silvius co-leads the initiative with Marilyn Visser,
director interprofessional education and workforce utilization.
The groundwork is about evaluating and addressing what’s
preventing the system from working to the greatest benefi t of patients
and providers. One of the key concepts within workforce optimization
is collaborative practice, which represents (and requires) a major shift
in thinking about our approach to patient care.
“Collaborative practice is not just about practicing as a member of
a team. Many of us would already say we are part of a team, but not
many of us would say we work in the most effi cient system, particularly
from the patient’s perspective,” says Silvius.
Collaborative practice is a model in which everyone works to
the full scope of their knowledge, skill and training in a process of
continuous communication and shared decision-making that includes
the patient and family, to achieve outcomes that could not be achieved
by any one person working alone.
What collaborative practice looks like in community care, in acute
care and even for individual units or services is open for discussion.
Because it is customizable to a certain extent in different settings,
physicians are strongly encouraged to provide input when their units
engage in the process and through unit councils.
The implications of a new service model for physicians will be
most evident in how and with whom they interact during the course
of providing care. “We’ll still talk to the person most appropriate for
giving or getting information about our patient, but that person may
not always be the most senior nurse,” says Silvius. “We need to be part
of the design in our areas because the number one principle of this is
to better meet the needs of the patient. This process allows physicians
to be part of developing how this is achieved in their area.”
Admittedly, the collaborative practice model and other optimization
strategies will not solve the region’s workforce issues. But it’s a vital
step in the right direction. “Imagine how improved worklife could be
if our system was functioning better, how much happier people would
be if they were actually doing what they were trained to do and in a
system that wasn’t so stressed,” says Silvius.
The workforce optimization initiative will be piloted in six acute
care units at the Foothills Medical Centre in the coming months with
an enterprise-wide implementation strategy developed by the fall.

By Dave Lowery
Actually, “form” and “bike . . . as in motorbike” are obviously four
letter words. And a four-letter word usually has a negative connotation.
But not these two four-letter words. To Dr. Connie Ellis, 42, they both
elicit a lot of passion. A passion that she has had for motorbikes (she
currently drives a Ducati) since she was a young girl growing up on
the farm and the newly acquired passion she has for the project she
has led for over two years, as liaison between the CHR department
of medicine and family medicine, to condense between 3-400 forms
down to maybe . . . uh . . . one!
With a family practice in Bowness for the past 15 years, now
specializing in travel medicine, Ellis recognized, along with numerous
other family physicians over two years ago, that the number one
problem back then was access to specialists in general.
“We’re working on accessing specialists because it’s better patient
care, specialists will be able to get the information they need and
family physicians will get their patients seen in a timely fashion,”
Ellis says. “Currently, the process isn’t changing for all specialties
though we hope to have this someday. It will only effect specialists
in the department of medicine.”
The project hasn’t been cheap and initial time estimates were
somewhat shorter, but Ellis says the end result will address much
more than a form number reduction.
“In initial meetings, we had everyone together who said ‘look at
the larger issues,’” she says. “It soon became apparent that we could
address them all through one form which would include triage and
pertinent referral information.”
And those issues included a “mess” of referral forms found in a
family doctors inventory according to Shannon Erfl e, who joined the
project as manager at the beginning of March after working as the CHR
operations manager for living well with a chronic condition.
“The family doctors had hundreds of referral forms in their offi ce
and were operating in a referral system based on relationships as
opposed to specialty areas,” Erfl e says. “That meant patients weren’t
necessarily getting the treatment they needed and were having to wait
longer. Together with family physicians, other health care providers
and specialty services, we identifi ed those issues where we wanted to
focus our attention. The result? We are getting the people and technical
equipment in place, referral criteria have been generated and we’re
committing to confi rming receipt of referral within two days and
seven days for triaging. If it’s not done based on the package triage
criteria, then the second triage will catch the mistake. An important
change is that the specialty triage nurses will be contacting patients
directly for appointments, family doctors to get more information if
needed and going back to the specialist if there is anything that is
questionable.”
Ellis says the ultimate result will be better patient care but she is
looking to expand the program.
“Our next step is to include other specialties and departments,”
she says. “Once they see it, I think they are going to jump on board.
I would like to stress out departments and have them call us to make
them part of the system. This is a plus . . . this is a good thing. We
need to keep family doctors practicing and this will support good
patient care.”
Form is not a four-letter word
What physicians need to know.
1. Starts May 1, 2008
2. The 30-page coil-bound instruction manual is for your
staff.
3. The form isn’t important. The information is.
• Erfl e: “If you prefer to use a dictated letter, as long
as it contains the same information and supporting
documentation, then we can move forward.”
4. The specialty will contact patients directly in order to
confi rm and set up appointments.
5. Get the forms from data group or on line from
department of medicine.
• Erfl e: “As we move towards a more electronic
system, we are hoping to make this an easier electronic
process.”
6. Physician requests for a specifi c specialist will be
honoured.
• Erfl e: ”Most of the specialty groups haven’t made
signifi cant changes in what they need, they have just
put it in one place and they’ve given one central intake
phone number.”
For more information, please go to
http://www.departmentofmedicine.com/
or contact Dr. Connie Ellis P. (403) 247-9797,
E-mail: ellis@bowmont.ca or Shannon Erfl e,
E-mail: shannon.erfl e@calgaryhealthregion.ca
Presentations can be made to your clerical team on
request.
Dr. Connie Ellis outside her practice in Bowness.
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 7

Region physician helps fl ood-ravaged African villages
Wherever floods, fires,
earthquakes or tsunamis are in the
world, you may find Dr. Sandra
Allaire.
Allaire, the medical leader for the Calgary Health Region’s disaster
services department, is also a disaster response specialist for the
International Red Cross.
She returned earlier this year from Africa, where she spent
four weeks helping out in the fl ood-stricken southern part of the
continent. She was in the fi eld for three weeks, visiting villages in a
normally drought-stricken, now soggy region of Zambia, and then the
waterlogged Caprivi Strip region of Namibia.
In the Caprivi Strip, a 100-by-400-km long peninsula, more than
400 centimetres of rain fell in January, more than double the normal
amount for that time of year. The region – which is part of Namibia but
is bordered by Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe – contains mighty
rivers such as the Kavango, Kwando, Chobe and Zambezi and 90,000
residents, most of whom are subsistence farmers/fi shermen who live in
mud-walled huts with thatched roofs. Many of the Caprivi residents are
used to moving because of the yearly fl oods but this year the rainfall
was so heavy that more people than usual were forced out of their
homes early before the annual river rise.
Allaire, who has been working in disaster response for the Red
Cross since 1991, was in charge of assessing the situation.
“We went into the fi eld to the areas where the people were moving
to or having to move from to assess what the situation was,” she
says.
“What we were looking for is how much shelter is available, how
much food is available, whether there were health problems and what
kind of numbers were involved. Sanitation – safe water supply and
appropriate disposal of human waste, to prevent waterborne diseases
– is a major concern in fl oods especially. Based on what we found, we
forecasted the need and helped with the budget so the supplies could
be ordered and brought in.”
While Allaire’s job is mostly administrative and “big picture” – she
had meetings with the premier of the Caprivi Strip in the capital city
of Katima Mulilo – she is still a fi eldworker at heart.
“I just love getting out in the fi eld,” she says. “You talk to the
women and ask them if the kids are getting sick; more sick than the
same time last year. You talk to the health offi cials and you fi nd out
if there’s anything unusual and what’s being reported. You go to
the clinics and talk to the nurses and see what is being reported. In
Namibia, the reporting system is good.
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 8
By Chris Simnett, CHR communications
Dr. Sandra Allaire, right, visits African villages hit by
severe fl ooding. ‘I just love getting out in the fi eld,’ says
Allaire, medical director for the Calgary Health Region’s
offi ce of emergency preparedness and a disaster
response specialist for the International Red Cross.
“I want to know the status of health in children and adults,” she
adds.
“I check where they get their water and use their latrines, if they
exist, as part of the quality control. I want to know how their food
situation is, what shelter they have and what problems they see as
most important. Often, what we, in this part of the world assess as
the worst problems, are not what the people themselves see as a need.
Latrines, as an example, are often a ‘nice to have’ as opposed to a
need. The fi elds do fi ne.”
“They explain the situation to me and I will actually go in the tents
or where they’re sheltered. They may say to me they don’t have any
food but I like to go in and see if they have any food supplies tucked
away in the corner. It’s always interesting to me to see if they have
any mosquito nets because that kind of thing, they’ve had help in the
past. This is not the fi rst time they’ve been visited by the Red Cross
or moved by the government.”

Rainfall forced people out of their homes.
Allaire, whose contract with the region permits her to be away on
Red Cross relief work four weeks every year, was on vacation in South
Africa when she was called to duty to deal with the fl ooding.
“The day I should have fl own home from my holiday was my fi rst
day of work for the Red Cross,” she says. “I had a little bit of prep
work to do before that.”
Her fi rst order of business was to buy equipment.
“I had gone on holidays so I had shorts on and now I’m going
into a fl ood zone where there are mosquitoes and it’s malaria season,”
she says.
“I needed to get lots of equipment – stuff that I have here – but I
just didn’t take it on holidays with me.”
Allaire didn’t hesitate to end her holiday prematurely.
“The reason I do this is because there are people I might be able
to help,” she says.
“I help them now by report writing and identifying their needs. I’ve
certainly worked at the frontline, seen patients, put patients through
clinics, run supplies around, collected supplies and handed them out to
people. One of the reasons they send me is they know I’ll do whatever
is needed. If I run across a patient in the fi eld and there’s no one else,
I’ll deal with it. I won’t pre-empt the local medical system but when
the local medical system isn’t there, I’ll deal with it.”
“There are places where there are people who are more
disadvantaged and you feel good if you are able to do something
for them. You can always give money here, but I
prefer to actually be on the ground and working
with them.”
Allaire is pleased with the help she was able to
provide the fl ood victims in the Caprivi Strip. But
she says everything pales in comparison to her fi rst
mission for the Red Cross.
“When I fi rst started doing this work my fi rst
mission was to Iraq after the fi rst Gulf War in
1991,” says Allaire. “I was working in a refugee
camp where they were dying at a rate of 10 to 15
per 10,000 every day. By the time we left at the end
of two and a half weeks, the death rate had come
down to three to fi ve every 10,000 people so we
had reduced it by one-third.
“When you can see results like that, it’s
pretty hard for anything else to match up to it.
As a physician, I won’t ever save that many lives
again.”
Since then, Allaire has worked in the Darfur region of Sudan,
the occupied Palestinian territories, Serbia, North Korea, Indonesia
after the earthquake of May 2006 and in the Maldives after the 2004
Boxing Day tsunami.
Many of the Caprivi residents are used to moving
because of the yearly fl oods but this year the rainfall was
so heavy that more people than usual were forced out of
their homes.
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 9

Calgary Health Region – board approval – March 25, 2008
Dr. Shelly Bhayana internal medicine endocrinology
Dr. Amy L. Gausvik rural medicine family medicine
Dr. Christopher J. Irving family medicine community care
Dr. M. Faisal M. Jhandir internal medicine general internal medicine
Dr. Andrew S. Johnson internal medicine infectious diseases
Dr. Maitreyi Kothandaraman internal medicine gastroenterology
Dr. Nasrin Maiter rural medicine family medicine
Dr. Melanie B. Peachell rural medicine diagnostic imaging
Dr. Shannon K.T. Puloski surgery orthopedics
Dr. Harald M. Schriefers rural medicine family medicine
Dr. Chandra S.Sivakumar internal medicine geriatrics
Dr. Leonore D. Stampa rural medicine family medicine
Dr. Oliver Strohm cardiac sciences cardiology
Dr. Jennifer E. Tse family medicine acute care
Our recent spring snowfall may have snarled traffi c but it inspired one young patient at the Alberta Children’s
Hospital to send a unique thank you to hospital staff.
“It’s the little things like this that makes everything we do worthwhile,” said Dr. Brian Stewart, vice president &
associate chief medical offi cer physician integration & medical leadership.
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 10

Safety learning reporting system update
By Sheila Rougeau, CHR communications
The Calgary Health Region
launched a new online patient safety
learning reporting system on March
11, 2008. The new reporting system,
which replaces the paper incident report forms previously used, focuses
on identifying safety hazards that exist across the region and require
shared solutions.
The new reporting system is faster and easier to use. Reporting
is confi dential (the name of the reporter is not distributed with the
report), and trends identifi ed by the system are explored to determine
the need for improvement.
Some of the most commonly asked questions received from
physicians since launching the new safety learning reporting system
are below:
Q: If there is no paper incident report, how am I going to fi nd out
about things that have occurred with my patients?
A: The most responsible physician and supervisor/manager should
be notifi ed of events where their patients are involved, and the facts of
an event should be charted on the patient’s chart. Reporting an event
is only one part of the communication.
Q: I used to “sign-off” on incidents that I needed to be aware of,
and write my comments, how will I do that now?
A: There is no requirement for physicians to sign-off on a safety
learning report. Any documentation regarding patients should be
charted on the patient record, including physician’s notes about an
event. The old “incident” reports were never part of the patient’s
record, so documentation on the form would not have been kept with
the patient’s chart
Q: Who can use the new reporting system and how can I fi nd the
new report form?
A: Any staff or physicians who have access to the Calgary Health
Region internal web can access the new safety learning reporting
system by going to the internal website and clicking on ‘submit a
report’ under the safety learning reporting system banner. There is no
need to login, or have a password.
Q: How do I fi nd out what happened to my report?
A: The online system will give you a tracking number which you
cite in an email enquiry to safetylearning@calgaryhealthregion.ca
Home care update
DAL-ED study
A 12-week concurrent study of referrals to emergency from six
DAL sites is underway to examine transfers and admissions. At the
mid-point, there have been 89 transfers of which 49 per cent have
returned to DAL following assessment in the ED. The primary decision
makers regarding transfers were site staff in 66 per cent of instances.
Most common reasons for transfers were to rule out fractures and
DVT, shortness of breath, abnormal behaviours, safety concerns and
pain management. Most common reasons for admission were COPD
exacerbation, pneumonia and UTI. Sites where there were regularly
scheduled visits from a physician expressed greater satisfaction in their
ability to manage emergencies. Challenges remain in communicating
with physicians out of hours.
DAL update
The physician group met to discuss the evolving medical
structure in DAL. A role description is nearly fi nalized which will
guide physicians and staff as to team responsibilities. There is site
RN presence at all sites now during weekdays (LPNs on a 24-hour
basis). Role of home care is mostly case management. Physicians
were reminded that 03.03N ($50.34) can be used for every patient
visit provided the visit in the patient’s room and not in a common area
or offi ce. Call 510-2518 for more information regarding working in
a DAL site.
Wound clinic
Dr. Gene d’Archangelo has been breaking new ground with
multispecialty wound rounds at the Sheldon Chumir centre on the
fourth Wednesday afternoon of the month. The clinic will move to
its new premises before the summer. 943-2653 to refer.
Dr. Paddy Quail, medical director, home care, Calgary
Health Region. E-mail: quail@ucalgary.ca
Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 11

Vital Signs May 2008 • Page 12
Family physician – eating disorder program
The eating disorder program continues to seek family physicians
interested in working one or two days per week with adult outpatients
who are struggling with eating disorders. The position will be based at
the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre (former ACH)
and will involve providing medical assessment and follow up with
respect to the medical complications associated with this psychiatric
disorder.
The family physician will be a member of a dynamic
multidisciplinary team made up of psychiatrists, paediatricians,
family counsellors, nurses, dieticians, an occupational therapist and a
recreational therapist. Training, ongoing mentoring, consultation and
therapeutic support will be provided to the family physician(s).
Clinics are held at the eating disorder program community based
treatment located at the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment
Centre. There is no overhead as secretarial support and a staff nurse
are included in the operation of all medical clinics. Family physicians
who work with the eating disorder program will bill Alberta Health for
patient visits. Sessional dollars are available to offset the cost of no
shows, and to allow family physicians to participate in team meetings
and educational opportunities as their time permits.
If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity on a
temporary or permanent basis please contact one of the following:
Mark Lagimodiere
manager, clinical operations
eating disorder program
955-7704 (w)
710-3708 (cell)
Carol Bentzen
nurse clinician
eating disorder program
944-1789 (w)
Brian Cram
medical director
eating disorder program
955-7705 (w)
Introducing new Canadian Tuberculosis Standards
The sixth edition of the Canadian Tuberculosis Standards is now
available and can be viewed at:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tbpc-latb/pubs/tbstand07-eng.php
Print copies can be obtained by contacting the Alberta Lung
Association.
The publication is jointly produced by the Public Health
Agency of Canada and the Canadian Lung Association/ Canadian
Thoracic Society. The sixth edition is a much expanded version of
its predecessors and is the defi nitive resource on issues pertaining to
tuberculosis prevention and control in Canada.
Judy MacDonald, BSc, MD, MCM, FRCPC, deputy medical
offi cer of health, Calgary Health Region.
Bulletins & notices
Two positions: psychiatrist and family physician
Location: Calgary, Alberta
The Canadian Sleep Institute has been a leading national centre of
sleep medicine excellence for 12 years. With a head offi ce in Calgary,
we specialize in community-based clinical services, research, and
corporate consulting in the area of sleep and fatigue disorders. We
are an accredited full-service sleep centre, and an affi liated teaching
site of the University of Calgary. CSI Research specializes in clinical
trials in a spectrum of neuropsychiatric conditions, with a primary
focus on sleep medicine and related mood and pain disorders. Since
1996, we have completed in excess of 80 clinical trials, with a wellestablished
reputation, infrastructure and team of clinical and technical
research professionals.
We are seeking a psychiatrist and a family physician in Calgary.
This is a rewarding, varied interdisciplinary practice, in a low overhead
environment. Additional training/experience in sleep medicine or
clinical research is an asset, although not mandatory. We offer a
combination of expanded income opportunities from fee-for-service
billing, third-party private work, and remuneration for opportunities
as an investigator in clinical trials.
You must be licensed, or eligible for licensure in Alberta. If you
are interested in exploring this exciting opportunity, we would like
to hear from you.
Inquiries and CVs can be forwarded by E-mail to Dr. Adam
Moscovitch, MD, FRCPC, CSI medical director at
adam.moscovitch@csisleep.com.