In the News

  • Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task Force Community Update 9

    Coast Reporter: Dear Fellow Sunshine Coast Residents: Thank you to everyone who continues to take every precaution to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the Sunshine Coast. So many people are jumping in and helping with the effort across the Coast and it’s really amazing to see.

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  • COVID-19: A message from Delta Division of Family Practice

    Delta Optimist: Doctors in South Delta issued the following letter as a message to the community in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The physicians of South Delta are on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19. This crisis is unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetime. We are working flat out to be there for our patients and their families. Doctors cannot do this alone. What the public does now will impact the health of British Columbians in the weeks and months ahead. Lives depend on your actions now.

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  • Island doctors offer advice on COVID-19: What to do, who to see, how to prevent the spread

    Tofino-Uculelet Westerly News: The following is a submission from the Physicians of Comox Valley Division of Family Practice. We know that you in the community are quite rightly concerned and anxious about COVID-19.Your family physicians have organized ourselves to respond to the situation as it evolves and to provide you with timely and accurate information regarding the novel COVID-19 pandemic currently upon our doorstep.

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  • Many in BC Don’t Have Family Doctors. That’s Not Too Big a Deal Right Now

    The Tyee: The fact that huge numbers of British Columbians don’t have a family doctor won’t likely be a factor in dealing with the growing COVID-19 health emergency. There will however be major stresses on the health care system and the people working in it, and the province is beginning to take steps to address them — though it isn’t yet accepting every offer of help.

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  • What you need to know about coronavirus and how it spreads

    Times Colonist: COVID-19 is the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. Some cause illness in people and others cause illness in animals. Human coronaviruses are common. They are typically associated with mild illnesses, similar to the common cold. COVID-19 is a new disease that has not been previously identified in humans. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people, and more rarely, these can then spread from person to person through close contact. There have been two other specific coronaviruses that have spread from animals to humans and which have caused severe illness in humans: SARS and MERS.

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  • People seeking testing for coronavirus face long lines as B.C. completes over 6,300 tests

    Vancouver Sun: People seeking to be tested for the novel coronavirus are facing line-ups out the door and waiting times of as long as three to four hours at some urgent primary care centres, especially in downtown Vancouver, North Vancouver and Surrey.

    B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said Friday that 4,318 tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were conducted in the last week for a total of at least 6,326 tests in B.C., up significantly from a total of 2,008 reached last week.

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  • Coronavirus in Canada: how to get tested, what the symptoms are, where to get help

    Maclean's: NOTE: This post is being updated frequently with the most recent information from official federal and provincial sources. Because events are changing quickly, we are drawing not only from government websites but also Twitter feeds, press conferences and other sources. Last update was Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m.

    As the coronavirus known as COVID-19 spreads in Canada, the sheer volume of information and misinformation about it can make it difficult to know exactly what is going on, and what to if you think you or someone near you could have the virus.

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  • COVID-19 behind cancellation of Tri-Cities seniors' health forum

    Tri-City News: With registration numbers down and concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on the elderly, a health conference for seniors planned for March 25 in the Tri-Cities has been cancelled. Plans are now being made to host the “Pathways to Better Health Forum” in June, during National Seniors Week, to avoid the complications of coronavirus, which is particularly dangerous for the elderly and others with compromised immune systems.

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  • New urgent and primary care centre opens in Castlegar

    The Nelson Daily: People living in Castlegar will soon have better access to team-based urgent and primary care with the opening of a new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC). “Castlegar has about 2,000 people who do not have a regular primary care provider. This needs to change,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development and MLA for Kootenay West, on behalf of Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “That is why, through the Province’s primary care strategy, we are announcing a UPCC in Castlegar to provide residents better access to same-day appointments and regular care. This centre will implement a team-based approach to ensure patients get the comprehensive care they need, when they need it.”

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  • Beamish to hold community leaders summit

    Coast Reporter: Gibsons Mayor Bill Beamish is planning to hold a “Community Leaders Meeting” at the end of this month to bring together more than two dozen representatives from local governments, businesses, public agencies and volunteer organizations.

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  • West Kelowna could see 10,000 new residents within 15 years

    Castanet: "There's a lot going on, so buckle up." With those words, West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom spoke of a rosy future ahead for the city during his annual state of the city address to the Greater Westside Board of Trade. Milsom says since incorporating in 2007, the city's population has grown about 35 per cent, and shows no sign of slowing down.

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  • High-income tax bracket could deter doctors from settling in South Okanagan, say MLAs

    Vernon Morning Star: Local MLAs say the introduction of a high-income tax in B.C. could deter family physicians from settling in the South Okanagan. After the B.C. NDP government introduced the tax in the 2020 budget in February, B.C. Liberal MLAs voiced their disapproval, stating it could contribute further to the already existing shortage of doctors in the area. The new tax bracket increased income tax levels to 20.5 per cent for those earning more than $220,000 annually.

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  • Opinion: COVID-19 panic is (sadly) spreading faster than the virus

    Burnaby Now: The spread of COVID-19 around the world and the few new cases in Canada and B.C. have created an epidemic of anxiety. Though I have not seen any suspected cases in my office, I have treated many patients with overwhelming anxiety related to the news.

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  • New East Vancouver urgent care centre offers alternative to walk-in clinics, ERs

    News 1130: People in East Vancouver who need medical care now have an alternative to lining up at local walk-in clinics or waiting to be seen at a hospital emergency room. The REACH Urgent and Primary Care Centre is opening on Commercial Drive, just south of Venables Street within the existing REACH Community Health Centre.

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  • 'I felt really stranded': B.C. woman says she struggled to access care after miscarriage

    CBC News: When Ivana Horacek suspected she was losing her pregnancy last October, the worry was unbearable. As it turned out, her struggle to find the care she needed was even worse. "I felt really stranded," said the Port Moody resident. "There was nothing, nothing that anybody would do." According to Doctors of B.C., 10 to 15 per cent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, but Horacek says there are inadequate resources for women going through what can be a frightening and upsetting ordeal. 

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  • April update on Westside's call for urgent care centre

    The Daily Courier: Westside municipal officials will find out in early April about the feasibility of their call for an urgent and primary care centre in the region of 50,000 residents. Interior Health is currently analyzing the delivery of health care in West Kelowna and Peachland with a view to seeing if demand exists for such a centre. “Interior Health has initiated the required urgent and primary care centre engagement process,” IH president Susan Brown says.

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  • Opinion: 'Coronavirus Phobia' has led to an ugly racist backlash

    Burnaby Now: Our stories help us make sense of the world. But all stories are tidy simplifications of reality. With the endless editorials on social media, public opinion moves further from the truth. Throwing in fear and prejudice, what we believe to be true becomes inaccurate, biased and sometimes racist. This is the case with Coronavirus Phobia that could also be called Facemask Mania. There has been a racist backlash against ethnic Chinese around the world, including Australia, France and the UK. In our own country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to remind us that “there is no place for discrimination driven by fear.”

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  • New approach to doctor recruitment in West Kootenay

    Trail Times: Doctors and health officials in the Kootenay-Boundary are joining forces to attract new physicians to the region. Last week senior medical leadership from the Kootenay-Boundary agreed to a regional recruitment strategy to attract specialists for local hospitals, and general practitioners for outside the hospitals.

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  • Help sought in developing family practices in South Okanagan and Similkameen

    Vernon Morning Star: Representatives with the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice are seeking help with developing family practices in the region. At the Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District meeting on Thursday, Dr. Tim Phillips, co-chair of the Division of Family Practice, and chief executive officer Tracy St. Claire asked the hospital district for assistance in building family practices in the area.

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  • Family practice 'dying': Call for help building South Okanagan family doctor practices

    Castanet: A pair of South Okanagan advocates for more family doctors in the region presented a plea for help to the Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District Thursday.  Dr. Tim Phillips, co-chair, and Tracy St. Claire, CEO, with the SOS Division of Family Practice presented a plaintive call to become a partner in their vision for encouraging and building family practices in the region. "Family practice as we knew it 20 years ago is dying,” Phillips said, explaining that the traditional model of groups of doctors buying and running their own spaces is no longer feasible. 

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