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When she first started at Mid-Main Community Health Centre in Vancouver, BC, 8 years ago, Susan Troesch worked in a space originally used to store dressings and other supplies. Now, the clinical pharmacist shares a larger space with the clinic's staff.
"Our office is a place where we all work together, so all the team members are in one room. That's another way to promote a team -- make sure you're all in the same space, with no walls between you. It makes a big difference," she explains.
The health centre Troesch calls "the best place in the world" is so committed to collaborative primary care that members are constantly being approached by groups wanting to learn from their approach. In fact, the non-profit organization was consulted as part of the Enhancing Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Primary Health Care Initiative.
The Initiative's focus groups found high levels of client satisfaction. "They felt connected and supported," Troesch says, adding that the greatest reward of working as a team is improved patient outcomes.
Since Mid-Main's opening in 1988, physicians and...