New primary care centres to serve ‘thousands of residents’ in Greater Victoria area

New primary care centres to serve 'thousands of residents' in Greater Victoria area
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The location for a new a nurse practitioner primary care clinic, located along Yates Street.

The BC Government has announced the addition of two new primary care centres coming to the Greater Victoria area in the coming months – one in North Quadra and one along Yates Street.

A new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) is slated to open up in the North Quadra area this November, bringing more access to team-based everyday health care. The North Quadra clinic will be located at 100 – 4420 Chatterton Way.

For the North Quadra UPCC, Health Minister Adrian Dix says that people in the region who do not have a consistent family doctor or a nurse practitioner will benefit from increased access to regular, ongoing primary care.

The North Quadra UPCC is a collaboration led by Island Health and the South Island and Victoria Divisions of Family Practice, according to the government.

“People in the Saanich community have told me that they need more access to primary care,” Lana Popham, MLA for Saanich South. “This urgent and primary care centre in North Quadra will give residents better access to team-based urgent and primary care, closer to home. I am proud that our government is listening to people and creating meaningful solutions that will make life easier and healthier for all.”

In a press release issued on Friday, the government anticipates the new facility to include family physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and allied health professionals and highlights that the team will serve “thousands of residents.”

The government says that the North Quadra UPCC will offer “urgent and ongoing team-based care and virtual care to people who need to see a health-care provider,” but don’t need the emergency department.

The new UPCC is also expected to offer extended hours of operation, according to the Province.

This is the 20th urgent and primary care centre to be announced under the government’s primary care strategy and the fifth to be announced in the Island Health region.

The Province is also launching Health Care on Yates, a nurse practitioner primary care clinic, in collaboration with the Victoria Primary Care Society, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC and Island Health. This nurse practitioner primary care centre, located at 1139 Yates St., is scheduled to open on September 28.

The centre will operate similarly to clinics led by family doctors, providing patients with more opportunities to get attached to a primary care provider, the government claims.

“We are implementing innovative ways to give people more access to primary health-care services. Nurse practitioners are part of B.C.’s primary care strategy and work together with doctors and other health-care professionals to improve the primary care system in the province,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “This is the third nurse practitioner primary care clinic that we are establishing under our strategy and the first in Victoria. These clinics will connect more people with the care they need, closer to home.”

According to a government press release, the clinic is currently undergoing renovations and has begun gradually registering area residents without a primary care provider since August 10.

The government says that the clinic received over 1,000 registration requests in the first two weeks alone. Anyone who does not have a primary care provider and lives within the clinic’s catchment area can become a patient by completing a registration form.

In the release, the government highlights that, as of Sept. 10, more than 550 patients and families have been registered and are able to book virtual primary care appointments with clinic nurse practitioners.

Health Care on Yates is now open for virtual care appointments Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Once the renovations are complete, hours will expand to Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

Six full-time equivalent (FTE) nurse practitioners are currently employed by the clinic, however, once fully staffed, the clinic will include registered nurses, a social worker and a mental health and substance use clinician, for a total of 10 FTE health-care staff and four medical office assistants.

The government says this clinic will work to attach approximately 6,800 people without a primary care provider to a nurse practitioner over the next three years

“The clinic would not be possible without the dedication of Island Health, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC, and committed local nurse practitioners,” Dix said. “We will continue our collaborative work to make sure that clinics led by nurse practitioners become an integral part of health care throughout the province.”

The Province will provide annual funding of approximately $2 million to the fully staffed clinic, in addition to a one-time startup cost of $445,500.

This is the third nurse practitioner primary care clinic in B.C. and the second to be announced on Vancouver Island – the other Island clinic opened in Nanaimo in June 2020.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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