Congratulations, you have a family doctor! Queensway Carleton Hospital pilot matches newborns with doctors

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Cretney-Reney said she was surprised just how many appointments her daughter had in the early weeks of her life.

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“As first-time parents we don’t know how often they have to see a physician and the appointment milestones. This has taken a big weight off our shoulders,” she said.

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The program is praised by parents and others. Several parents have written to Dr. Jane Philpott, who chairs Ontario’s primary care action team, to let her know how important the program is.

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But so far it is only a temporary fix.

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Queensway Carleton has funding to continue the initiative until the beginning of July. After that, its future is in doubt.

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Its success in connecting newborns and many family members to physicians is largely due to the work Zoobkoff puts in tracking down and connecting with primary caregivers, even exerting persuasion in some cases. Among other things, she tries to find suitable matches for families. The program is also in touch with Montfort Hospital to help find francophone family doctors for French-speaking families whose newborns do not have primary care.

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The program makes it easier for physicians by reducing much of the administrative burden associated with taking on new patients, said Ashley Malloff, vice-president for quality and chief nursing executive at Queensway Carleton. The hospital puts together all the necessary documents into a streamlined package of information for each tiny patient.

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“Primary care can take (the package) and do what they do clinically rather than the administrative burden that comes with taking on new patients,” Malloff said.

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“The initiative is about giving newborns the best possible start and supporting families when they need it most,” says Ashley Malloff, vice-president quality and chief nursing executive at Queensway Carleton Hospital. Photo by Queensway Carleton Hospital /HANDOUT

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The hospital set up a pediatric discharge clinic a few years ago because of growing demand at other clinics for newborns. Some parents were going to walk-in clinics or emergency departments with newborns because they had no other options in the first weeks of life.

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“The initiative is about giving newborns the best possible start and supporting families when they need it most,” Malloff said.

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“By identifying and supporting unattached families early, we can reduce stress for parents and help ensure babies get the best possible start in life.”

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In addition to working with family doctors and primary care providers, the initiative works with Kids Come First, Ottawa Public Health’s Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program, Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre, the Ottawa West Four Rivers Ontario Health Team and Almonte General Hospital.

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The initiative reflects growing concerns that some infants are falling through the cracks of the health system at a vulnerable time in their lives because of the shortage of primary-care providers.

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In Vanier, which has the lowest rates of primary care attachment in the city, the Ottawa Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic takes in every new baby born at Montfort Hospital to families living in its catchment area — in and around Vanier — who don’t have primary care.

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Montfort has also attached 25 francophone babies born at Queensway Carleton with the Montfort Academic Family Health Team, spokesperson Martin Sauvé said.

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One out of every three people visiting Montfort’s emergency department does not have primary care.

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