Alberta’s Primary Care Alliance: Influencing Health Policy and System Improvements
There are three ways to influence and have impact – Role, Relationships, 
and Expertise
and ExpertiseThe Alberta College of Family Physicians is an active partner in Alberta’s Primary Care Alliance (PCA). We have two seats at this table occupied by Dr. Sonya Lee, ACFP Board Member and Terri Potter, ACFP Executive Director.
The PCA vision is to connect islands of family physician leadership to help lead and engage in health care system transformation in Alberta. The PCA has gained the ability to influence:
- Through its formalization of the PCA role as a point of contact to the complex primary care system in Alberta,
- the collective expertise it has within it through its membership, and
- through the solid relationships that it has developed over the years.
Collaboration is Key
With the strength and support of the member organizations, the Alberta College of Family Physicians, AMA’s Section of General Practice & Section of Rural Medicine, Primary Care Networks of Alberta, and Academic Family Medicine, we are able to share expertise and diverse perspectives to think critically and
strategically toward unique solutions.We then act collectively and as individual organizations toward that common vision and strategy using tactics that fit with our organizational mandates, resources and relationships. The membership of the Alliance is:
- Section of General Practice president: Dr. Darryl D. LaBuick
- Section of Rural Medicine president: Dr. Edward Aasman
- PCN Physician Leads’ Executive chair: Dr. Jeffrey Bratvold
- AMA Board of Directors: Drs. Tobias Gelber and Howard Evans
- Alberta College of Family Physicians: Dr. Sonya Lee and Terri Potter
- Academic representative: Dr. Lee Green
- PCA Chair: Dr. Brad Bahler
The PCA’s current priorities are the implementation of the Vision of the Patient’s Medical Home and to increase the integration and effectiveness of the health system. To that end, the member organizations have each carved off their areas of influence and assigned resources to advance their part of the solution.
The ACFP has been a key player in providing expertise and influence in areas such as continuing professional development, clinical leadership, evidence-based decision making, primary care and family medicine research, quality improvement, and the awareness of the value of the family physician. Our relationships outside the PCA have been invaluable in this work:
- The ACFP is connected to the Medical Students, Family Medicine Residents and Faculty within the Departments of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary and Alberta.
- The ACFP has a well-connected Board of Directors and several strong operational committees and task forces that inform and support the work that we do with others such as the First Five Years in Family Practice Committee, the CPD Advisory Committee, the Membership Advisory Committee and the Opioid Response Task Force.
- The ACFP is also a member of the Alberta Seniors Care Coalition, the Collaboration for Change Initiative, and the Primary Health Care Integration Network. The ACFP connects regularly and works collaboratively with the CPSA, AMA Programs, Alberta Pharmacists Association, the College of Licensed Practical Nurses and other colleges and associations.
- The ACFP is a Chapter of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and we meet regularly with and have strong connections to all the provinces through their Chapter offices.
If you as a member of the ACFP would like to talk about the work of the ACFP and its role at the Primary Care Alliance, please feel free to reach Dr. Sonya Lee or Terri Potter. Several members of the PCA will also be available during the upcoming Family Medicine Summit (Formerly ASA) in Banff on March 1-3, 2019 and would be willing to sit over a coffee or meal.
Sonya Lee, BSc, MD, CCFP, MHSc, FCFP
ACFP Board Director, PCA Representative
and
Terri Potter, BA PMP CAE
ACFP Executive Director, PCA Representative
