MPres Trudy opened the meeting at 7:07 to 28 present and 3 on Zoom, plus our guest speaker. Regarding health of members, it was announced that Rotarian Charles Lacey is in hospital with a heart condition, and a get-well card was passed around for all to send best wishes to Charles. After the Rotary song and O Canada, breakfast pizza was consumed before the guest speaker, Karen Clayton-Babb was introduced by Jacques Michaud.

 

Karen is the Chief Nurse Practitioner and Clinic Director at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner Led (NPL) clinic.  Karen completed her basic nursing programme in Jamaica and later migrated to the Cayman Islands, where she grew her career in primary care and public health.  She pursued her Bachelors of Science / Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program at MacMaster University.  Karen also completed her Masters of Science in International Primary Health Care at the University College of London in the UK as a Commonwealth Scholar.  She has a special interest in women's health and polypharmacy, which is the use of greater than 5 drugs in the elderly.

 

Karen described the scope of practice of Nurse Practitioners in general and the Belleville NPL clinic in particular.  She described an overview of NPL clinics and the qualifications that Nurse Practitioners needed to practice as primary care providers.  Karen indicated that NPL clinics were equivalent to primary care physician clinics and it provides primary care for people who are unassigned to family doctors.  It provides a collaborative care model, in a multi-disciplinary practice setting, with the goal of health promotion s well as treating illness and injury.

 

There are a total of 26 NPL clinics in Ontario, and the Belleville clinic, which Karen leads, was the second one opened in the province. It provides primary care for about 3200 patients in Lennox & Addington,  Northumberland, Hastings & Prince Edward County. It is funded by the MoH.  It is staffed by multi-disciplinary group of practitioners, including N.P., R.N., pharmacist, dietician, chiropractor, etc. including 2 reference Medical Doctors required to sign for specific orders.  The clinic also partners with addiction and metal health providers.  It addresses acute care, management of chronic diseases, health promotion and disease prevention, as well as antenatal care and child care, and coordination of care and medication reconciliation.  It is located at Victoria and Pinnacle in Belleville.

 

After Karen's presentation, there were a flurry of questions from the audience, who were eager and enthused to learn about this alternative form of primary care, and who were hoping to circumvent the need to be assigned to a family physician in order to get primary care in the County.  But alas, our enthusiasm was dashed when Karen pointed out that like a family physician clinic, prospective patients need to go through the Ontario Healthcare Connect database, and must renounce their family doctor or be unassigned to a family doctor in order to be assigned to the NPL clinic, and there is a 4 year waiting list to access the NPL clinic.  After the presentation,  Karen was thanked by Rotarian Mike Lattner.

 

In other club business, Bottle Billy was able to recruit the volunteers needed for the Bottle Depot this week.  PP Howard announced that nominations were now open for Rotarian of the Year awards.  Michelle Kosoy reminded everyone to sell all the D&D books and to return all unsold books to her ASAP.  MPres Trudy announced that Wellington will be resuming the traditional Canada Day celebrations, and there will be a street party with Cue the Funk band playing on the eve of Canada Day.  We will be resuming the Rotary Ribs stand on Canada Day after the Parade.

 

After the four way test was recited, the meeting adjourned shortly after 8 a.m.

 

 

9 a.m. to 11 a.m.: David McKinnon, Chris Compeau, William Mulholland
Needed:  1 Sorter/Receiver

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Needed: 1 Cashier, 3 Sorter/Receiver