About 900,000 British Columbians are without a family doctor, including about 100,000 on the south Island, and a recent report by clinic directory service Medimap said Victoria had the longest waits in Canada for walk-in clinics.
About four walk-in clinics have closed in the capital region since January, largely as a result of staffing issues.
Interim funding of $3.46 million was allocated to keep another five open.
Urgent and Primary Care Centres have been built as part of a larger plan to address primary care needs, but they are critically understaffed.
In the downtown Victoria UPCC, 45.66 full-time equivalent positions are funded but less than half — 21.61 — have been filled. At Nanaimo’s UPCC, 16.83 FTE positions are funded, but only 5.73 are staffed.
B.C. Liberal health critic Shirley Bond recently said in question period that fewer than two per cent of people who don’t have a doctor have been attached to one through UPCCs.The province has about 6,800 trained family doctors, but only about 3,500 practise in that role, according to Family Doctors for Better Patient Care in B.C.
On Friday, Horgan blamed the primary-care crisis largely on insufficient federal funding.
https://www.timescol...an-says-5415315
Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 May 2022 - 11:33 AM.