People in the Peterborough area who don’t have health care provider such as a family doctor or nurse practitioner can take advantage of preventative care clinics offered by the Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT) over the next six months.
The weekly PFHT clinics for women’s wellness and for blood pressure take place at the Morton Community Health Care Centre (150 Strickland St., in Lakefield), with the women’s wellness clinic taking place every Tuesday starting December 4th and the blood pressure clinic taking place every Thursday starting December 6th.
The women’s wellness clinic will screen female patients for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers by arranging mammography appointments, providing take-home Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) kits, and conducting PAP smears at the clinic.
The blood pressure clinic will check patients’ blood pressure to ensure it falls within the appropriate range. If patients fall outside of the recommended range, the nurse practitioner will offer appropriate treatment and follow-up care.
“I am very excited to start these new weekly clinics to provide health screenings for residents without a family doctor or nurse practitioner,” explains Lorie Dunford, nurse practitioner with the PFHT Clinic. “The clinics can identify any health ailments early so that they can be treated.”
According to PFHT executive director Lori Richey, people without a health care provider normally do not have access to this type of primary care.
“This all-encompassing model provides patients with many types of preventative screenings and also takes a holistic look at the patients to see if there are any social determinants of health that we can assist with,” Richey explains. “This can include where the patient lives, their income, ability to access healthcare and other social services. Our clinicians are always looking at the bigger picture as a means to provide the best care possible.”
