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VON ready to help

BY BILL BRADLEY [email protected] There is now another option for some families needing primary health care-nurse practitioners at the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
BY BILL BRADLEY

There is now another option for some families needing primary health care-nurse practitioners at the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).


Crystal Noel and Genevieve Courant, nurse practitioners with the Victorian Order of Nurses have stepped forward to increase the number of families they can service with their own medical expertise.
?Due to a recent reorganization of services, we have two nurse practitioners here at the VON offices here ready to help meet this shortage of primary health care in Greater Sudbury for families in need,? said Patti Dickieson, branch manager with the VON.

Nurse practitioners have been practicing in Ontario since 1998. Genevieve Courant is a nurse practitioner at the VON offices, located at 121 Elm St. at the rear of the Days Inn. Courant and fellow nurse practitioner Crystal Noel will be shouldering the extra patient load.

?Nurse practitioners are experienced registered nurses with advanced university training who can provide personalized, quality health care to patients. We can diagnose and treat illness and injuries and perform physical check-ups. We can order and interpret diagnostic tests and write prescriptions. We can order X-rays, ultra-sound and blood work for patients,? said Courant.

For patients without the benefit of a family doctor who monitors their health over time, nurse practitioners can help fill that gap, she said.

?Nurse practitioners do not replace doctors. We compliment the whole health care team including doctors, dietitians, mid-wives and social workers,? said Noel.

?We discuss lifestyles with our patients and help them set goals to reduce weight, cut smoking or control asthma and blood pressure problems. Because we are on salary we can spend more time with our patients and track their progress in managing their health concerns,? she said.

The nurse practitioners program got going in 1999 when the Ontario Ministry of Health announced $5 million in funding for primary health care nurse practitioner positions in community health centers, aboriginal health access centres and nursing centers.

?Ontario?s Ministry of Health now provides $40 million to fund 400 nurse practitioners across Ontario. It?s a way of improving access to quality and effective health care every day,? said Dave Jensen spokesperson for the ministry.

Dickieson said the Sudbury VON nurse practitioner program is supported mostly by Ministry of Health funding but also by the United Way.

?We are a United Way agency and we find the community supports our programs here in Greater Sudbury and in our satellite offices in Espanola and on Manitoulin
Island at Mindemoya,? said Dickieson.

For more information phone the VON?s Wellness Clinic at 671-1575.

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