Amidst a doctor shortage in Simcoe County, near Lake Erie, NP Janet Calwell is helping patients who do not have a primary care provider. She has been seeing patients at the South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre since Jan. 14, and will continue to provide care until a new physician is recruited to the community. NPs can do a lot to fill the gap in care, she says. “We do labs, we do pap smears, diagnosing and reordering medications, so there are a lot of needs that we can fill for the area.” Simcoe County is not alone in managing the thousands of patients without a primary care practitioner, also called orphan patients, Calwell says. In fact, NPs in Perth, southwest of Ottawa, are also being utilized to help orphaned patients. Michelle Bellows, chief executive officer of Rideau Community Health Services, says patients are equally comfortable with a nurse practitioner as they are with a doctor. “(NPs are) fully autonomous. They don’t have to report to doctors,” says Bellows. (CTV News Barrie, Jan. 7, and Perth Courier, Jan. 13)