Case Study
Calian CARES™: Military Family Doctor Network (MFDN)
Linking over 3,000 military family members to primary care physicians across Canada.
Did you know?
There are 40,000 families of full-time Regular Force Canadian Armed Forces personnel
- Canadian military families do not receive care through the military but access care through provincial healthcare programs
- Military families face unique circumstances: frequent relocations, regular family absences due to training and/or deployment, and the increased risk for operational injury, illness or death of the military member
Calian Health, in partnership with Military Family Services (MFS), is pleased to offer the Military Family Doctor Network (MFDN) as part of its corporate citizenship efforts. The goal of the program is to improve access to quality health care for families of serving Canadian Armed Forces members by expediting the process of obtaining a physician and reducing the number of military spouses and children without a family physician.
The program is provided at no cost to families of the Canadian Armed Forces and is now available in Calgary, Comox, Edmonton, Esquimalt, Gagetown, Halifax, Kingston, London and SW Ontario, Mainland BC, Moose Jaw, St. John’s, Toronto, Trenton and Winnipeg. There are a number of family physicians at Primacy clinics across these communities who are willing to accommodate military families. Calian staff can also appeal to family physicians who are not practicing at primacy clinics to extend their practices to military family members.
As we continue to evolve MFDN, Calian has launched other programs in order to reach more families and provide quality care through the network of participating physicians:
- In 2018, Calian, Military Family Services (MFS) a division of Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) and the Vanier Institute of the Family, announced the establishment of Innovation to Impact—a working group to translate key Canadian medical research to empower physicians and other healthcare professionals to make evidence-based decisions to advance the healthcare experience and well-being of military family members. Two key deliverables of the working group are the following research based guides: a Quick Reference Guide for Military Families When Meeting with a Health Care Provider and a Quick Reference Guide for Health Care Practitioners Caring for Military Families.
- In 2019, we also launched the Petawawa Military Family Video Visit Pilot. Military family patients from the Petawawa/Pembroke area can now access an Ontario physician at home via secure video when required (similar to a non-emergency walk-in clinic but with a pre-determined appointment). The Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) and Calian Ltd. have partnered to offer a network of virtual doctors for military families who have difficulty finding a family physician.
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