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Province working on doctor shortage, Dix says after three clinics announce closures

The province is aware that three private walk-in clinics in Greater Victoria have recently announced closures, and is working to address “significant challenges” in the primary-care system, including on southern Vancouver Island, says B.
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Eagle Creek Medical Clinic in View Royal announced the closure of its walk-in clinic after two physicians said they were closing their practices. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST

The province is aware that three private walk-in clinics in Greater Victoria have recently announced closures, and is working to address “significant challenges” in the primary-care system, including on southern Vancouver Island, says B.C.’s health minister.

“There is more to do on the South Island,” Adrian Dix said. “We’re working closely with family practice doctors to address the present situation.”

James Medical Treatment Centre in Victoria announced last week it is planning to close Feb. 28 for all but complex-care and vulnerable patients.

Dr. Michael Greenwood, 72, last year signalled that it was impossible to keep up with demand, and a sign posted at the clinic last week said he was unavailable for appointments due to “unforeseen circumstances.” The clinic says it will have limited bookings for its regular complex-care and vulnerable patients.

Eagle Creek Medical Clinic in View Royal and Colwood Medical Treatment Centre have both announced plans to close April 15. The clinics say they can’t find new physicians to hire.

The clinic closures mean thousands more people in the capital region will be without a family doctor or clinic.

About 920,000 people in B.C., or 17.7 per cent of people age 12 and older, are without a regular health-care provider, according to a Statistics Canada 2019 report. The national average is 14.5 per cent. Only Quebec has more patients without family doctors.

At the same time, a 2019 report from the Crown corporation Canadian Institute for Health Information said physician supply in Canada grew for 13 years, outpacing that of the general population, before slowing in 2019. Between 2015 and 2019, “the growth rate was twice that of the general population.”

But doctors in private practice complain about overhead costs, burnout, having to be business people instead of focusing on medicine, paperwork and the fee-for-service model, which does not cover them for all work.

Dix said the current model of private family doctors offices “is not best suited to the current times.”

The minister pointed to the government’s efforts to fix the problem, including the establishment of more than two dozen urgent and primary care centres, and “dozens” of primary care networks to help practices establish team-based care.

In fact, Eagle Creek Medical Centre became part of a primary care network in 2020.

In partnership with the Ministry of Health, Island Health and the Division of Family Practice, the clinic expanded its physical space by over 2,000 square feet and was able to hire two new doctors and nurse practitioners. Doctors and nurse practitioners under the PCN agreement are still taking on about 4,500 patients on a now-closed waitlist.

Yet, two doctors are leaving Eagle Creek in April to pursue online medicine options, which will force the walk-in portion of the practice to temporarily close.

View Royal Mayor David Screech said if a new clinic in a prime location with an innovative model of care is struggling to recruit and retain doctors, it raises tough questions.

Dix said more clearly needs to be done and “we’re acting on that.” “It’s a great worry for people, particularly people with chronic diseases who are older, who need health-care services.”

Some primary-care clinics with a team-based approach are owned and operated by the health authority and the doctors are paid a salary, rather than being paid a fee for each service, but not all want that. Other clinics have blended forms of pay.

The Doctors of B.C. is currently negotiating a new Physician Master Agreement with the province. The group says among doctors’ most pressing concerns is the need to address the “continually increasing cost” of running a business and for the government to fund virtual services on a permanent basis.

The current agreement expires March 31. A new agreement is not expected to be signed until the fall.

ceharnett@timescolonist.com

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