Through the Lens: Primary Care in the Netherlands

A photo journey through the clinics, systems, and ideas that gave me hope.

Over the past few months, I’ve been lucky to visit clinics and health systems around the world — places that are tackling many of the same primary care challenges we face here in Canada, but organizing themselves in different ways.

One of the stops that’s stayed with me most? The Netherlands.

Here’s me! Cold, but happy to be in Njemegen.

In the Netherlands, family doctors are self-employed — but the system around them is designed to support both patients and providers in a way that feels structured, consistent, and people-centred. There are standards for how quickly patients should be seen, clear expectations for after-hours care, and teams that work together — not in silos.

It left me wondering:
What would it take to build something similar here?
What parts of that system could we learn from, borrow from, or even improve on?

I’ll be sharing more reflections in a series of four upcoming episodes of Primary Focus, but in the meantime, I wanted to share a few moments I captured along the way — snapshots from clinics, waiting rooms, quiet streets, and conversations that sparked new thinking.

Here’s a quick collection of the beautiful clinics and the wonderful people I met along the way:

Arriving in the Netherlands with my travelmate Dr. Rosemary Hannam, meeting with executives at CZ Insurance and touring the Netherlands

A few shots from Dr. Tim Olde Hartman and Dr. Suzanne Ligthart's clinic Huisartspaktijk Oosterhout in Njemegen

My tour of the After Hours clinic in Njemegen, including the empty ED we talk a lot about in our third episode of the Netherlands series.

The GP practice I visited in Amsterdam with my host Dr. Jettie Bont and the team. A different setting than in Nijmegen but how the clinic was structured, and the roles of the team members, were remarkably similar.

Dr. Angelique Heemskerk lets me shadow her at the after-hours call centre in Amsterdam. They take calls here from people all over Amsterdam and if someone needs to be seen, they coordinate care with the doctors at the four in-person after-hours centres in the city.

A day-time visit to the in-person after-hours centre at Amsterdam UMC and then the family medicine research department with my hosts for the day Dr. Ralf Harskamp and Dr. Eric Moll Van Charante. There was a Christmas concert the day I visited!

If you want to learn more about my trip and my takeaways for the Canadian primary care delivery system, check out our four-part series on Primary Focus:

In the Netherlands: a day in a GP practice, Part 1

In the Netherlands: a day in a GP practice, Part 2 (coming soon)

In the Netherlands: after hours care (coming soon)

In the Netherlands: a conversation on governance and accountability (coming soon)