Verdun welcomes the first integrated network clinic in Quebec

One of Bolduc’s predecessors, David Levine, who also directed the Verdun Hospital for 10 years, attended the event as president and director-general of the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal.

“It’s an important moment for healthcare in Quebec. The network clinic concept revolutionizes family healthcare and transforms the ways of doing it,” said CSSS du Sud-Ouest/Verdun director general Danielle McCann during the press conference.

In 2003, the government accorded two nurses to each family medicine group. This time, a multidisciplinary team of 15 professionals, with all the resources for the related services, will work with physicians in each integrated network clinic.

"It's a new concept that has strong potential to improve and raise the consistency of the services," Bolduc said.

For David Dunn, head of the integrated network clinic of the CSSS Sud-Ouest/Verdun and the family medicine unit of the Verdun Hospital, this new model of primary care offers better accessibility and quality, while reducing the number of hospital emergency visits by 50 per cent. "After three years of work, we hope the integrated network clinic will better meet the needs of the population while revitalizing the practice of medicine."

The integrated network clinic is a merger the family medicine group and the network clinic. The integrated network clinic offers patients multidisciplinary services all located in one place in their community. "People with chronic diseases like diabetes will be particularly followed," said Dr. Dunn.

According to David Levine, the multidisciplinary team will allow physicians to take on 30 per cent more patients, promote healthy lifestyles and preventative medicine, in order to avoid crises situations in hospital emergency rooms, as well as to better manage medication. "Thanks to the multidisciplinary team, it is less costly to have a patient at the integrated network clinic than at the hospital emergency," said Bolduc.

Establishing one unique, computerized file for each patient allows the staff to check the patient's medical history with one mouse click, facilitating decision-making and reducing the risk of error. All health facilities in Montreal will be on the same network within the next 42 months. There will be 60 integrated network clinics on the Island of Montreal within the next 10 years.

The integrated network clinic of the CSSS Sud-Ouest/Verdun is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal. "The collaborative practice rejuvenates the face of medicine," says Dr. Denis Roy, the faculty’s executive vice-Dean. Each year, about 30 residents of the faculty will conduct their family medicine training at the Verdun clinic. "The university mission combined with the multidisciplinary approach is important for us," said Bolduc. The traditional doctor is now supported by a specialized team, and trained to work together with them.

Open 12 hours every weekday and eight hours on weekends, the integrated network clinic of the CSSS Sud-Ouest/Verdun accepts walk-in visits and provides care for minor emergencies, both for registered and non-registered patients. The integrated network clinic is located on the second floor of the Verdun Hospital.

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