Drs. Marketa Chaloupka, Andrea Symon, Jill Davis, and Poornima Sathi, Herold Road Family Physicians, Saskatoon

The $10-million Innovation Fund was negotiated as a key component of the 2022-26 agreement. Twenty‑eight medical clinics across Saskatchewan have received support from the Innovation Fund to better meet the needs of their patients and communities. These projects are helping clinics add team members, improve care, and build stronger, physician-led, team‑based care.

The Saskatchewan Medical Association is profiling individual physicians whose Innovation Fund project ideas are leading change in family medicine in Saskatchewan. Featured are Drs. Marketa Chaloupka, Andrea Symon, Jill Davis, and Poornima Sathi of Herold Road Family Physicians of Saskatoon.

Herold Road Family Physicians’ Innovation Fund project aims to improve access to mental health care services and dietary counselling, enhance care coordination, and expand team-based care for adults diagnosed with chronic diseases.

“We hope the information and knowledge gained from our project can be used to guide what a Patient’s Medical Home care team could be, when integrated within a clinic’s health network. We hope to share knowledge we gain through our project with other clinics.”

One goal is to create a collaborative with family physicians and an on-site social worker, dietician and RN. Another is to improve physicians’ work-life balance, reducing stress and burnout by allowing them and all team members to focus on work that is at their top of their scope.

“We will create direct access to needed services and establish a liaison between physicians and patients with complex health needs and questions. Patients do not always need an office visit, but their questions may be too advanced for a medical office assistant to answer. Adding people with the correct skill sets will allow for the needs of these patients to be addressed in ‘real time’ by the right provider in the right role.”

Herold Road is a large, busy practice with 11 physicians serving a diverse population, including people with multiple chronic diseases, who account for 10 per cent of patients. Appointments are often long as these patients require additional education and support.

In 2024, the Herold Road Family Physicians participated in a collaborative mental health pilot project, which included the clinic’s physicians, a psychiatrist and a social worker. The project involved clinical consultations and discussions on managing care.

Over the 12-month period the pilot project showed:

• Improved patient outcomes in quantitative measurements.

• Significantly reduced wait times to see a psychiatrist or social worker.

• Improved patient and provider satisfaction within a team-based approach.

“This model paves the way for Herold Road Family Physicians to have the skills and experience to further develop the Patient’s Medical Home.”