Established through the GP for Me initiative, the Recruitment and Retention program collaborates with residents, family doctors and community partners to reduce the high number of unattached patients in Vancouver. The program’s work supports family doctors during the beginning and ending phases of their careers. With 200+ family doctors projected to retire in the next five years, and an estimated 138,000 patients currently unattached, the Recruitment and Retention team has three main focuses: to attract family doctors to Vancouver, to support family doctors working in Vancouver, and to guide retiring family doctors to successfully transition their practices. Recruitment and Retirement invests in ongoing programming and resources, understanding that family doctors are at the core of a healthy community.
Five programs lead this work: locum matching, recruitment, new-to-practice support, retiring support, and transitioning patients from retiring family doctors to clinics and doctors with capacity.
The team continues to develop meaningful partnerships with VCH, Health Match BC, PSP, the UBC Residency Program, and Med Records to create a network of support for members as they enter into and retire from practice, and manage the demand for family doctors in Vancouver.
Recruitment, Retention and Retirement work has directly impacted 39,699 patients