In the News

  • Tri-Cities to get new urgent and primary care centre

    Tri-City News: Tri-Cities residents in need of medical attention will soon have access to a new health care centre after the province announced it was looking to ease pressure on local emergency departments. The urgent and primary care centre (UPCC), which will open yet determined temporary location in February 2021, will be focused on offering residents of Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam both the long-term day-to-day health care of a family doctor as well as serving those who need to be treated within 12 to 24 hours, according to a written statement from the province.  

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  • Fraser Health opens new COVID-19 testing centre in Surrey

    CBC: Fraser Health has opened a new COVID-19 testing centre in Surrey that is expected to triple the testing capacity of the previous primary facility, and relocate the majority of testing from the Surrey-Whalley Urgent and Primary Care Centre. The testing centre, which opened Friday, is located at 14577 66 Avenue and will reportedly be able to conduct up to 800 COVID-19 tests per day. The centre, which is a partnership between the health authority and the Surrey-North Delta Division of Family Practice, will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.

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  • New primary care centre opening in Saanich

    CTV News: The province’s 20th urgent and primary care centre will open in the Saanich area in November, the B.C. government announced Friday. Urgent and primary care centres (UPCC) offer medical services for urgent needs that require medical treatment within 12 to 24 hours, such as minor cuts or burns, sprains, ear infections or urinary problems. UPCCs also offer virtual care appointments and help connect people with a primary care provider if they do not currently have one.

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  • 5 new primary care networks coming to Vancouver Island

    CTV News: Dramatic changes are coming to health-care services on Vancouver Island, the B.C. government announced Tuesday. Five new primary care networks are coming to the Comox Valley, Cowichan, Oceanside, Saanich Peninsula and the Western Communities. Primary care networks connect care providers, such as doctors and nurse practitioners, with residents of an area. The B.C. government says that this will help connect people who do not have a regular primary care provider, like a family doctor, with one in their community.

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  • Urgent and Primary Care Centre planned for Saanich; nurse-practitioner clinic launching on Yates

    Times Colonist: An Urgent and Primary Care Centre is expected to open on Chatterton Way in Saanich in November. The province is expected to make the announcement today, along with launching a new primary care clinic operated by nurse practitioners on Yates Street, set to open Sept. 28.

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  • Health ministry to hire 33 new practitioners for Kootenay Boundary

    Grand Forks Gazette: A $5.3-million program to bring 33 full-time health-care providers to the Kootenay Boundary over the next three years was announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Health. The program will set up a network to serve approximately 15,250 people who don’t have a primary care provider in the Nelson, Trail, Castlegar, Nakusp, Kaslo, Grand Forks and Salmo areas.

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  • Primary care network to provide faster care for Oceanside residents

    Nanaimo News Now: More direct health services are in bound for the Oceanside area.The Ministry of Health have announced more than 23 full-time health providers will be funded in the area over the next four years. Evelyn Clark, executive director of the Central Island Division of Family Practice, said funding a wide-array of professionals will help those who need it most.

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  • Many coming to Delta's COVID-19 testing site

    Delta Optimist: Delta’s testing site is busier than ever as active COVID-19 cases in B.C. are at an all-time high. The Delta Division of Family Practice, in partnership with Fraser Health, established the testing and collection site a few months ago. The site is located at the Delta South Home Health Office at the side of City Hall in Ladner.

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  • Province releases details of 3 'primary-care networks' coming to Central Okanagan

    Castanet: More details have been released on nearly $12M in healthcare funding for the Central Okanagan announced by the provincial government on Tuesday. The B.C. government says over the next four years, three “primary care networks” will be launched in the region, in Central Kelowna, Rutland/Lake Country and West Kelowna/Peachland. The networks will bring 79 new full-time health care providers to the region, such as family physicians, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and allied health professionals such as social workers, mental health counsellors, a dietitian and Indigenous health co-ordinators. The networks will aim to reach 28,580 people in the region who currently don’t have access to a primary care provider. The team-based care teams will allow healthcare workers to collaborate and focus on their respective areas of expertise. 

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  • About 660 new full-time equivalent health professionals will be part of 22 primary care networks

    Voice Online: Approximately 660 new full-time equivalent health professionals will be part of 22 primary care networks coming soon throughout the province. “As part of our primary care strategy, we’re putting networks of health professionals at the centre of our primary care transformation, making life better for everyone in B.C.,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, on Tuesday. “By adding 22 more primary care networks to the 17 already announced, more people will benefit from a seamless patient-centred experience that meets their unique health needs.”

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  • B.C. to add team-based primary care networks for patients without family doctors

    CBC: The B.C. government is adding 22 primary care networks in 13 regions where teams of health professionals will provide services for patients without a family doctor. The networks connect care providers including doctors and nurse practitioners in a particular area with an aim to provide faster service. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the new networks in regions such as the central Okanagan and the East Kootenays will be added over the next three years to 17 that already exist.

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  • B.C. government announces 22 new primary health-care networks

    Vancouver Sun: The B.C. government has announced $78.5 million in funding for 22 additional primary health-care networks in 13 regions. The primary care networks will be in Comox, South Vancouver Island, Cowichan, Oceanside, White Rock/South Surrey, Chilliwack/Fraser Rural, Mission, Central Okanagan, Central Interior Rural, Kootenay Boundary, East Kootenay and Vancouver.

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  • How BC Can Fix Primary Health Care, With or Without Corporations

    The Tyee: To describe the way he practises medicine, Baldev Sanghera gives the example of a teenager who comes into his Burnaby clinic seeking help with acne. Sanghera would treat the skin problem. But he says he’d also be attentive to the patient’s anxiety that goes along with it. He would take the opportunity to talk with them about mental health, self-esteem and confidence. If more is going on, he might talk about linking the teen with a school counsellor or teachers to help with educational supports or discuss sexual health.

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  • Looking for a family doctor in the Tri-Cities? This waitlist will help

    Tri-City News: Finding a family doctor in the Tri-Cities just got a little easier. The Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice, which covers the Tri-Cities and New Westminster, has launched a Patient Attachment Waitlist. Anyone looking for a primary care provider – a family doctor or nurse practitioner – can sign up on the waitlist until a match is found in their area.

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  • The Shady Tree site swaps pints for swabs

    The Squamish Chief: When the Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice first opened their drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at the Shady Tree Pub, they tried to keep it quiet while they figured out how, exactly, to best provide care from the makeshift site. But someone with “nothing but good intentions” posted the news on Facebook.

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  • Urgent and primary care centre announced for West Kelowna

    Global News: An urgent and primary care centre will soon be coming to West Kelowna. The provincial government announced the news on Tuesday afternoon. The centre will be located at 2484 Main Street, and will be opening in November.

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  • Why Are Corporations Moving into Health Care? Doctors Say It’s the System’s Fault

    The Tyee: Maryam Zeineddin is a family physician and the co-owner of a West Vancouver clinic that provides traditional primary care. She and the seven other doctors working at the Ambleside Medical Centre no longer deliver babies, but otherwise they provide a wide variety of care over the course of each patient’s lifetime. They even make house calls. It’s a model of care that has been disappearing, and Zeineddin said it’s difficult to sustain. The clinic’s overhead keeps going up, but the fees the government pays physicians to provide services do not.

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  • How Summerland engages with community

    Penticton Herald: We hear a lot about how important it is that policy and decision makers engage with the public; that transparency and consultation is an expectation; and that communication is critical in building and fostering relationships. “Community engagement is a process through which community members are empowered to own the change they want to see and involves communication, problem-solving, governance, and decision-making skills and strategies” (Policy Link & Kirwan Institute, 2012, District of Summerland).

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  • Maintaining learning groups in out-of-school care ‘unrealistic,’ say Coquitlam care providers

    Tri-City News: Daycare centres across the Tri-Cities are warning the “learning group” model designed to keep students in bubbles and stem the transmission of COVID-19 in B.C. schools is “unrealistic” outside of school hours. That message comes the on the same day all of British Columbia’s 60 school districts were required to post their school reopening plans ahead of the Sept. 10 back-to-school start date. 

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  • Whistler to get dedicated COVID-19 testing space

    The Squamish Chief: Whistler will soon have a COVID assessment trailer to help local doctors accommodate increased testing for COVID- 19. The new trailer is a result of a collaboration between the Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice and Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), said Dr. Bruce Mohr, the medical director of the Whistler Health Care Centre.

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