The B.C. government will provide $26.3 million annually towards funding primary care networks in communities across Vancouver Island.
In a series of press releases, the B.C. government said it will commit annual funding for primary care networks in Oceanside, Cowichan Valley, Saanich Peninsula and western Vancouver Island communities.
According to the provincial government, Cowichan Valley will receive $6.5 million in annual funding, Saanich Peninsula will receive $4.9 million in funding, Oceanside will receive $4.6 million annually, and $10.3 million annually for western communities, which include T’Sou-ke, Scia’new, Beecher Bay, Pacheedaht, Port Renfrew, Songhees and Esquimalt.
The province says 23 full-time equivalent health employees will be added in Oceanside, 36.2 full-time employees will be added in Cowichan Valley, 29 will be added in the Saanich Peninsula and 50 will be added in the western communities, over the next four years. Positions will range from nurse practitioners, family physicians and allied health professionals such as registered nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, clinical pharmacists.
These primary health networks will provide a full range of accessible, everyday health services that will better support patients throughout the communities mentioned. The province says the networks were “developed to better meet the specific needs of the community and to strengthen services identified as high priority” including increased access to primary care supports to unattached patients, improved access to mild to moderate mental health and substance use services, culturally safe primary care for Indigenous peoples, and better co-ordinated services for families and seniors who are frail and people with complex health issues.
“As part of our government’s primary care strategy, we’re making life healthier and better for everyone in B.C. Through primary care networks, we are providing team-based health care and giving people a seamless patient-centred experience that is responsive to the unique needs of each community,”said the province’s minister of health, Adrian Dix, in a press release.
CHEK News
