Series: CVFP Health Team
Reflections from CVFP Team Members
(Celebrating 10 years from L to R: Linelle Giles, Cindy MacGregor-Cocks, Michelle Lokinger, Shauna Thome, Sherry Drewniak, missing: Cheryl Withey)
In this post, we share memorable experiences and insights from members of the CVFP Health Team who are proudly celebrating 10 years of contributing to outstanding patient care.
Strong teamwork and communication in a collaborative and compassionate environment are the very foundation of delivering a high standard of patient care. This begins at the first point of contact for patients when they walk through the doors at CVFP, through to the delivery and follow-up of care.
Sherry Drewniak, Operations Coordinator, Privacy Officer
My first six years with CVFP, I worked as part of the patient health teams guided by our doctors; first the Gold team and later the Yellow team. In 2017, I joined the clinic Administration team and am currently the Operations Coordinator/Privacy Officer. My dual role connects me to patients daily and I bring those experiences to care teams so that we can continually improve our patients’ experiences.
A highlight for me as a CVFP’er was a team building challenge at a pre-COVID learning retreat. The retreat facilitator had tied CVFP participants together in pairs, blindfolded us and grouped us in teams. We were then tasked with assembling a tent! I was partnered with Randy, a pharmacist that works with CVFP, and our team included five pairs of CVFP’ers. We stumbled around trying to put tent poles together, while one unblindfolded doctor gave us directions. Talk about a great way to build trust – one of the most important attributes for building strong health care teams!
Linelle Giles, RN
As a Registered Nurse at Crowfoot Village Family Practice, I am fortunate to interact with patients both in exam rooms doing histories and assessments, and on the phone providing education and support, reviewing test results, assessing symptoms, and providing guidance regarding health and wellness. With the funding model at CVFP, RNs can work to their full scope of practice to provide the best possible patient care.
A big highlight for me as part of the CVFP Health Team, is the opportunity to care for patients during every stage of life - from newborns onwards - and helping patients through a full spectrum of health care needs. I feel privileged to know and provide care for some of our patients for over a decade of their lives and I love seeing the "babies" that I saw as newborns come in as vibrant 10-year-olds now!
Michelle Lokinger, Medical Office Assistant, Blue Team Lead
I am a Medical Office Assistant and Captain on the Blue team and have been a member of this team since day one at CVFP. We are continually working towards building a strong team by communicating and merging observations and expertise to optimize patients’ care.
My CVFP experience holds so many memorable moments over the years, but recently I came across one special memory that I captured as a video on my phone. One Christmas our Blue team planned a secret Santa event and one of the physicians forgot to bring their secret Santa gift. The recipient, another physician, was a great sport. We all laughed it off and figured their gift exchange would occur the next day at our clinic Holiday Party. Well indeed a gift was given. The forgetful physician wrote a song and sang it while playing the ukulele to the other physician in front of the entire clinic! It was the most thoughtful, kind and heartfelt gesture any of us could have imagined. I still tear up watching it as I am reminded of how terrific the people are at CVFP!
Cindy MacGregor-Cocks, Medical Office Assistant, Gold Team Lead
I am a Medical Office Assistant and lead for the Gold team where my focus is as a liaison between the team and doctors. I am also a member of the CVFP Social Committee – a team that plans and organizes monthly events, luncheons, activities and fundraisers.
I have many highlights during my time as part of the CVFP team, too many to single out just one. I have met so many wonderful, compassionate and caring people in my 10 years at CVFP, some of which I know will be lifelong friendships. Working here has taught me a lot about myself and challenged me in many ways. There is always an opportunity to learn and grow as an individual and as part of a team.
Shauna Thome, Executive Director
I joined CVFP in January 2011 as the Executive Director. Together with Dr. Janet Reynolds, CVFP's Medical Director, we provide leadership and support to almost 100 CVFP'ers who work collaboratively to care for our patients. This includes oversight of the day-to-day operations, exploring and implementing clinical care innovations, and contributing to the development and execution of CVFP's business strategy. All the while we keep our vision, mission and values at the heart of everything we do.
There have been so may wonderful moments for me as part of the CVFP Health Team, but the most pivotal was my first interview with the CVFP board in 2010. I wasn't looking for a new job, at the time I was very happy in a leadership role within an organization I'd worked at for more than 15 years. I was cautiously curious about the new role of Executive Director at CVFP.
That first interview lasted two hours; it was a wonderful conversation where we discovered our shared commitment to creating a safe culture conducive to teamwork, collaboration and learning; to improving the quality of life for our patients; and to innovation and leadership in health care. Dr. Rick Ward asked me if leaving my current job was a risk or an opportunity. Of course, I saw it as both, but during that two-hour conversation, it became very clear what an opportunity it would be to join CVFP.
The rest is history as they say…. I've never regretted my move, not for one moment. With the amazing support of this team, I've learned and evolved as a leader. It’s been an immense pleasure to work alongside some of the most inspired health providers, both staff and physicians, I have ever met throughout my career journey. I am proud to be part of the CVFP Health Team. After 10 years, I can still say that this is my dream job. I'm still pinching myself!
Cheryl Withey, RN
Working as a Registered Nurse at CVFP is such an honour. We walk beside our patient families through some of their greatest joys, difficult situations and overwhelming heartaches. As a "Floor RN", I work closely with eight physicians, six Medical Office Assistants and my colleague RNs. My role is to assess patients as they come in, determine the primary concern, and gather information to assist the doctor to make a diagnosis and care plan. The other major role is communicating with patients over the phone or email. Whether we are discussing test results, providing support and resources to patients who are struggling or working to solve issues with accessing health care, I believe this opportunity for patients to connect directly with their health team is invaluable and not typical for most family practice clinics.
During my decade at CVFP, I have gone from working in a casual position, as I balanced time to raise my busy kids, to an almost full-time position. I split my time between the two ends of the clinic, Blue team and Silver team. And no, I don't have a favourite team or a favourite child, although I do favour the ones who clean up after themselves.
My greatest joy of my years at CVFP is our RN team. The base of knowledge and experience is covered with generosity, dedication and humour. Some days we deal with very heavy situations and we know that we can "empty the bucket" with each other.