Collaborative care clinics being set up in the province may be a new concept here, but they are a primary health care model that has been used in other jurisdictions for some time.

There are three collaborative care clinics set up in the St. John’s metro region, with plans for more across the province.

The Regional Director of Primary Health with Eastern Health, Melissa Coish, says the clinics involve a series of health care professionals including family physicians and nurse practitioners, to provide care to patients.

Other health care professionals include occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work, pharmacy, dieticians, registered nurses, LPNs, and diabetic nurse educators.

The patient is then followed by the entire team, led by a primary caregiver.

Coish says a patient is assigned to either a physician or nurse practitioner, and their care is followed by the entire team.

Each CTC currently in the metro region today has four nurse practitioners and three full-time equivalent family physicians, which serve up to 7,500 patients with access in the evening and weekend hours.