Primary Health Care Services Board of Directors appoints Executive Director and Medical Director

Lori Richey and Dr. Kaetlen Wilson chosen to succeed Peterborough Networked Family Health Team founders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Primary Health Care Services (PHCS) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Lori Richey as its new executive director, and Dr. Kaetlen Wilson as its medical director, effective immediately.

Ms. Richey has been director of operations at PHCS for more than eight years and brings more than two decades of health care experience to the role. For the last five months, she has held the role of interim executive director at PHCS.

Dr. Wilson has been a Peterborough County family physician since 1993. She worked with Peterborough Regional Health Centre from 2004 to 2011 — as hospitalist, lead hospitalist, and medical coordinator of the stroke and rehabilitations units. She will work with PHCS eight hours each week and maintain her family practice at the Morton Community Healthcare Centre in Lakefield.

The pair succeeds Bill Casey and Dr. Don Harterre, who were leaders in the formation of the Family Health Team (FHT) model provincially, and led the organization locally for the last decade.

PHCS is a not-for-profit organization funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and generously supported by the Health Services Foundation. We’re your family doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, dieticians, mental health clinicians and pharmacists and we’re 160-strong. Together, we provide the best possible care for individuals and families in our community. We care for the whole person and we improve quality of life.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce these appointments,” said Dr. Thomas Richard, chair of the PHCS Board and a Medical Centre family physician, adding the appointments are the culmination of extensive search processes.

“The Board undertook an exhaustive, nine-month-long process to find that Lori Richey was the most qualified candidate to lead the organization in its evolution in the City and County of Peterborough.

“Lori’s contributions to the organization over the last eight years are extensive and exemplary; and her commitment and dedication to primary care in Peterborough is second-to-none. The best interests of our patients, and those who expertly care for them, guide her in her decision-making. Similarly, Dr. Wilson brings a patients-first approach to the table, in addition to exceptional leadership experience. The Board is so pleased that both of these highly qualified individuals have agreed to take on the responsibility of working with us to lead our organization into the future.”

Both individuals report directly to the Board, and will be responsible for carrying out the organization’s mission, working toward its vision, and bringing its strategic plan to life.

“I look very forward to furthering my work with PHCS, especially when it comes to collaborating with our community partners in pursuit of the best possible patient care for the residents of Peterborough,” said Ms. Richey. “I will also work to support our exceptional team of health care providers — not only in their day-to-day work, but in the continuous advancement of their knowledge, skills and abilities.”

“It is my privilege to provide medical direction to an organization as patient-centred, quality-focused and forward-thinking as PHCS,” said Dr. Wilson.

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About PHCS
Our Family Health Team network is made up of five teams and we’re located at clinics across the City and County. Within each team, your family doctor and others work to make sure you get the frontline care you need, when you need it. We’re preventative and proactive, and we do our very best to keep you out of the hospital.

Caring for our community
For close to 10 years now, we’ve also been responding to community-wide health care needs. We offer innovative programs and services, like the INR Clinic, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and smoking cessation in our catchment area.

Peterborough: A leader
There are 184 Family Health Teams serving more than 3 million people in more than 200 communities across Ontario. However, Peterborough is the only city in the province in which virtually all family doctors are part of the FHT.

Peterborough was a leader in the formation of the FHT model — the answer to the primary care crisis when one in five residents didn’t have access to a family doctor. Since its inception almost a decade ago, more than 25,000 new patients have been placed with a team in Peterborough.

To reach Dr. Thomas Richard, Lori Richey or Dr. Kaetlen Wilson, please contact
Dalis Adamson, Executive Assistant, PHCS, (705) 740-8020, ext. 304