Central Interior Rural Division of Family Practice

For Patients

CSC Primary Care Newsletter Update Spring 2023

 

NOTICE FROM: The Board of Directors, Central Interior Rural Division of Family Practice  

 

Starting December 5th, Bridge Care Virtual Clinic will no longer be offering doctor and nurse practitioner appointments to the residents of the Cariboo-Chilcotin who do not have a family doctor. The Central Interior Rural Division (CIRD) of Family Practice made the tough decision to stop offering primary care services during a health care provider shortage that is affecting municipalities from across Canada, because we are unable to provide the necessary ongoing medical direction for continuation of the clinic. This is due to the widespread crisis we are experiencing in primary care throughout the region, and country. 

 

Bridge Care Virtual Clinic launched in October 2020 as a temporary solution to a provider shortage in Williams Lake occurring during a very unprecedented and scary time, to ensure patients without a family doctor had access to primary care services through COVID 19.  Bridge Care was never set-up to be a permanent clinic, it was only ever meant to be a ‘bridge’ in primary care services, and closing the clinic was a tough decision to make when so many people do not have a family doctor here in the Cariboo. We really empathize with those people, and we are working hard with partners to find and attract more providers to the region. 

 

Letters have been sent out to patients to notify them of the upcoming closure and how to get their medical records from the clinic. The Division also included in the letter, a list of virtual health services that are available to patients who are needing primary care. Residents who do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, should add themselves to the wait list for one by calling HealthLinkBC at 8-1-1 or visiting: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-connect-registry/central-interior-rural and they will be notified by an attachment coordinator when a provider becomes available.  

 

The CIRD and partners through the Collaborative Services Committee, are also working on developing tools that will help the public find available primary care services in the region.  These tools are under development and the CSC hopes to have these available to the public soon.  

Need a doctor or nurse practitioner?

Do you need a family doctor or nurse practitioner? The Health Connect Registry can help.

If you, your family, or a person in your care lives in one of the Central Interior Rural communities of One Hundred Mile House, Williams Lake or the surrounding Cariboo Chilcotin region, you can register with the Health Connect Registry to be attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Once registered, we will use the information you have provided to contact you once one of the clinics has room for you (and your family) as patients.


By registering with the Health Connect Registry, you are being put on a list to be attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner when one becomes available. Please note that at this time, we are experiencing a physician shortage in our area.  We would like to thank you for your patience while you wait to be attached and look forward to connecting you with a family doctor or nurse practitioner as soon as space is available.

Maternity Care

If you are looking for maternity care, please register and call 250-296-0070 ext 2.

FPSCBritish ColumbiaDoctors of BC

The Divisions of Family Practice acknowledge that we work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of many different Indigenous Nations throughout British Columbia.

Acknowledging that we are on the traditional territories of Indigenous communities is an expression of cultural humility and involves recognizing our duty and desire to support the provision of culturally safe care to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in BC.