The province says residents in the Nanaimo-region will have more access to team-based primary care by establishing the Medical Arts Urgent and Primary Care Centre.
Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the existing Medical Arts Centre will be expanded to accommodate an additional 25,000 patient visits per year, with full service expected to start in June.
The province says 14 full-time positions will be added, including four doctors.
Dix says the centre on South Terminal Avenue in the Port Place mall will be open seven days a week and offer additional same-day appointments and extended hours of operation.
The urgent & primary-care centre will include evening & weekend hrs, helping people access same-day health care services when they need it. A complement of doctors, nurses, mental health & substance use clinicians, social worker & pharmacist will deliver team-based care #bchealth
— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) April 3, 2019
The government estimates the annual incremental operating cost of the centre will be around $2.7 million.
The centre’s expansion is in collaboration with Island Health and the Medical Arts Centre and will provide added services for seniors and people who require mental-health or substance-use treatment.
“We know that many people in Nanaimo find it difficult to receive the adequate, quality health-care services they need. More than 15,500 people in the region do not have a primary care provider and for those who do, same-day access is often impossible to get,” Dix said in a statement.
This is the second urgent and primary-care centre to be announced on Vancouver Island, following one that opened in Langford last November.
The province announced the Medical Arts Centre in Nanaimo will be expanded as an urgent and primary care centre.
Photo courtesy medicalartscentre.com.
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