File photo (CBC: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock)
VANCOUVER — Doctors at more than 300 walk-in clinics in B.C. are calling for fair pay for their work compared with those in family practice.
Mike McLoughlin of the Walk-In Clinics of B.C. Association says the clinics fill a gap for patients who can’t get a family doctor.
He says walk-in doctors often see patients with complex conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure but can’t charge the extra fees that are paid to family physicians.
McLoughlin says some walk-in clinics have been forced to close as doctors retire and there aren’t enough new ones to replace them.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says walk-in doctors could be part of the province’s plan to connect more patients with family doctors through yet-to-be opened primary care networks.
Dix says the networks will have various health-care providers including nurse practitioners, physiotherapists and dieticians.
He says more than 750,000 people in B.C. don’t have a family doctor.
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
