B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says a new urgent primary-care centre is expected to open in the James Bay neighbourhood in Victoria in March.
Dix made the announcement on Monday at the site of the new centre at the James Bay Community Project at 547 Michigan St. It is the former location of the Whiteye Community Health Centre. The two general practitioners from that clinic have relocated to the Yates-Quadra Medical Clinic in downtown Victoria. Their patients have been moved as well.
“The new urgent and primary care centre will help connect more people in Victoria with the health care they need when they need it,” Dix said.
“By increasing the number of publicly funded health-care professionals in the community, thousands of people who currently lack a primary care provider will benefit from increased access to same-day appointments for urgent needs and improved access to regular, ongoing primary care into the future.”
The urgent primary care centre will be operated by Island Health and is currently under renovation. The B.C. government said it will provide extended hours of care 365 days a year. It is the first urgent primary-care centre for Victoria.
The new urgent primary-care centre is under renovation.
“This is great news for the community and the capital region as a whole,” Carole James, MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill and B.C. finance minister said. “Not only will this urgent and primary care centre bring much-needed services to Victoria, but it will also help to reduce congestion at the emergency departments in our region.”
According to the government, there will be general practitioners, nurse practitioners, nurses and mental health and substance-use clinicians for same-day care, as well as ongoing primary care through booked appointments. Urgent primary care cases can include sprains, urinary problems, ear infections, minor cuts or burns.
The B.C. government estimates there will be tens of thousands of patient visits per year.
The facility is the 14th urgent primary-care centre to be announced under the government’s primary care strategy and the third in the Island Health region. The first opened in Langford in October 2018 and the second opened in Nanaimo in June 2019.
The provincial government said under the primary care strategy, it will fund and recruit 200 family doctors and 200 nurse practitioners, and hire 50 clinical pharmacists
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