How do you enhance residential care for seniors when your physician population is already stretched to capacity? It’s a question the Abbotsford medical community struggled with for several years before the introduction of the residential care initiative. While funding was needed to make residential care improvements happen, Abbotsford ’s biggest challenge was finding enough family doctors to take on the cause in the face of other critical care needs.
“In 2007, local physicians came together to explore how we could improve both hospital and residential care,” says Dr Alf Chafe, Residential Care Medical Coordinator for the Abbotsford Division of Family Practice. “With the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Care Centre about to open, it made sense to focus on hospital care for our first program.”
The formation of the Abbotsford Division of Family Practice in 2009 provided the right opportunity to revisit plans to support stronger residential care for seniors. Fueled by a continued desire to tackle residential care, Abbotsford physicians were approved for funding to develop a residential care program in 2011.