What is primary health care?* 
Primary health care is basic, everyday health care.

Primary health care providers are the first people you see when you access the health care system:

• Family doctors
• Nurse practitioners 
• Dietitians
• Physiotherapists
• And more

Primary health care is about:

• Helping people avoid getting sick or injured

• Managing chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure

• People playing an active role in their own care

• Making the most effective use of care providers' expertise

• Efficiency and coordination

• Understanding that factors outside the health care system can influence health (for example, air quality)

At Northern Health, we believe primary health care will ensure better health for all of us.
 
Benefits of primary health care:

• Provides continuous, coordinated, comprehensive care for the "whole person"

• Helps keep waiting lists down

• Reduces pressure on emergency rooms

• Makes the health care system more sustainable in the long term

 

*Modified from material from Heartland Health Region, Saskatchewan

Primary health care is an important part of Northern Health's vision. Its Strategic Plan for 2009-2015 states, "Northern people will have access to integrated health services, built on a foundation of primary health care." 

In six Northern communities, Northern Health is integrating services around the primary care home:

• Prince George
• Prince Rupert
• Fort St. John
• Fraser Lake 
• Valemount
• Mackenzie

The Prince George Division of Family Practice is a group of family doctors who work together for better health care. The group was chosen as one of three provincial prototypes to begin working on providing access to a family doctor for each person who wants one.

Activities of the BC government around primary health care include the following: 

• BC's Primary Health Care Charter was launched in May 2007. Its goals include making sure that more British Columbians have their own family doctor, ensuring that patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes or hypertension are better managed, and reducing pressures on acute care (hospitals). 
• The General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) (a partnership between the BC Medical Association and the BC Ministry of Health Services) is developing an attachment initiative to ensure that everyone in BC who wants their own family doctor will be able to have one. (See this June 2010 government news release, "BC commits to a family doctor for everyone by 2015.")
• The BC government is funding provincial health authorities, including Northern Health, to integrate services around the primary care home.
• The Family Practice Incentive Program, an initiative of the GPSC, supports family doctors in providing guideline-based care in areas including chronic disease management, maternity care, mental health, and care for the frail and elderly.
• The Practice Support Program (PSP), an initiative of the GPSC and ImpactBC, was launched in 2007 with two goals: to improve patient care in BC and to increase job satisfaction for family doctors.
• The BC government is support a focus on quality improvement through Impact BC and the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council 

	Scenario	Is this an example of primary health care?	Explanation
	Angela is in a car accident and is rushed to emergency.	No	This scenario involves acute care (the hospital). Primary health care is the kind of care you'd receive from your family doctor, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, or other first-contact health care provider.
	Mark takes his baby son Tyson to the doctor for a checkup.	Yes	Ongoing contact with a family doctor for preventive care throughout a person's life is an important part of primary health care. Baby Tyson is off to a good start!
	Emily has surgery to remove her appendix.	No	As with Angela's visit to the hospital (above), this is not a primary health care situation. However, if Emily's family doctor was the one who discovered  that she had appendicitis and referred her for surgery, that would be an example of primary health care.
	Working with a dietitian, James and his family doctor develop a plan to help him manage his diabetes.	Yes	This is an excellent example of primary health care, which often involves teams of health care providers working together to help people live better with chronic diseases, such as diabetes.