Martensville Collective Health & Wellness (MCHW) is growing its team with the addition of Nurse Practitioner Erin Boyce, a move clinic owner Dr. Allison Adamus says will bring greater stability, improved access to care and a stronger team-based approach for patients.
Boyce recently joined the clinic through Saskatchewan’s Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Contract Program, part of the Government of Saskatchewan’s Patients First Health Care Plan. The initiative is designed to improve access to primary care by expanding opportunities for nurse practitioners to provide publicly funded services throughout the province.
The timing couldn’t have been better. According to Adamus, Boyce contacted the clinic just days after one of the physicians announced she would be leaving the clinic.
“It all came together for a reason,” Adamus said. “She has been exactly what we needed.”
Boyce was already a familiar face to the MCHW team. Through the Seniors First program, she had spent years working alongside the clinic, providing home visits for housebound, elderly and palliative patients. That longstanding relationship meant the physicians already knew her clinical skills, professionalism and commitment to patient care.
“She’s passionate about caring for this community and believes in team-based care,” Adamus said. “She’s brought an excitement that helped relight the fire for our team. She’s been such a stabilizing force.”
Although some patients may be unfamiliar with the role of a nurse practitioner, Adamus emphasized that Boyce provides the same comprehensive primary care services as the rest of her team. The primary difference, she explained, is that nurse practitioners follow a different educational pathway.
NPs can assess, diagnose, order and interpret tests, prescribe medications and provide ongoing patient care.
“With all of us working alongside one another, it gives us the opportunity to consult each other and continue building experience,” Adamus said. “There are areas where someone may have more experience than another, and that is why we are constantly shoulder tapping our colleagues.”
That collaborative approach benefits both patients and providers. “Our philosophy at the clinic is that working together benefits patients,” Adamus said. “Erin brings years of experience with her, and there are times that she is the one that we are going to for advice.”
“When someone has a question or wants another opinion, we’re only a door away,” she added. “That’s how experience grows, and that’s how we make each other better.”
For Adamus, Boyce’s arrival also represents something the clinic has struggled to achieve in recent years; continuity, because, like many Saskatchewan communities, Martensville qualifies for return-of-service physicians, meaning many newly graduated doctors establish practices locally before moving elsewhere once their contractual commitments are complete.
“It’s hard on our team and it’s hard on patients,” Adamus said. “By the time physicians are fully settled into independent practice, they’re often moving on and we’re starting over.”
Boyce’s decision to build her career in Martensville offers a different kind of stability.
“She’s local, she’s passionate about full-service family medicine, and she’s here because she wants to be, not because she’s fulfilling a requirement,” Adamus said. “That brings a completely different energy.”
The clinic currently includes physicians Dr. Allison Adamus, Dr. Amanda Walker, Dr. Jamil Sawaya and Dr. Khadija Dulymamode, physiotherapist Trevor Adamus and Nurse Practitioner Erin Boyce, as well as two Medical Office Assistants.
Through funding provided by the Innovation Fund, MCHW also plans to continue expanding its multidisciplinary team by hiring an additional administrative staff member, a registered nurse and, eventually, a social worker.
The Innovation Fund, a partnership between the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the Government of Saskatchewan, has provided $10 million to help physician-led clinics across the province expand their teams, improve patient access and strengthen collaborative models of care. MCHW is one of 28 clinics selected to receive funding.
The Province announced that 26 new Primary Care Nurse Practitioner contracts have been awarded during the program’s second intake, including Boyce’s position in Martensville. Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the expansion will improve access to care for Saskatchewan residents.
“Providing Saskatchewan families with increased access to primary health care services continues to be an important part of our Patients First Health Care Plan by ensuring the right care is available in the right place and as close to home as possible,” Cockrill said. “In Martensville, the new Nurse Practitioner will provide primary care access to at least 800 patients.”
Looking ahead, Adamus hopes to eventually expand the clinic itself, but says her immediate focus is building a stable, collaborative team that can continue providing high-quality care close to home.
“I just love this community,” she said. “We’re excited about what this means for our patients and for the future of our clinic.”
