South Zone Lethbridge Unattached Patient Clinic - Physician Lead

The Lethbridge Unattached Patient Clinic was established from an identified need to serve residents of Lethbridge who currently do not have a Family Physician. Gaps in services resulted in: 

• Increased Emergency Department visits
• The inability to discharge with orders to follow up with a family physician
• Lack of access to screening interventions and follow up for positive or concerning diagnostic testing results
• Lack of access to community-based providers to manage complex care outside of hospital setting
• Lack of access to community-based care for ongoing management of chronic and acute conditions

One population of unattached patients have chronic complex health needs that require a more consistent (and perhaps lengthy) approach to care assessment and management - the length of time required to achieve a safe and quality approach to care is often beyond the scope of the complex modifiers. It has been recognized that this upstream approach will help to prevent ED/hospitals admissions.
Another population this clinic will serve will be as a follow up clinic for unattached patients which means that individuals with new/changed diagnostic results will require additional time to assess and determine the most appropriate approach to care which also includes direct patient contact and any additional planning/research.

The Physician Lead for the Unattached Clinic is a Leadership Position funded through Alberta Health Services South Zone Medical Affairs.