New clinic, old problem: British Columbia’s urgent care centres struggling with staffing

Dozens of urgent and primary care centres are now scattered across B.C., but are they living up to their promise to take the pressure off emergency rooms?

As the province’s health minister toured a brand new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) about to open in Port Coquitlam, she acknowledged that staffing the facilities is an ongoing issue.

Josie Osborne spoke to reporters Wednesday at the 11,000-square-foot facility, which is opening next week with 20 full-time clinic staff expected to handle some 64,000 patient visits per year from the Tri-Cities and beyond.

“This centre follows a team-based model bringing together physicians, nurse practitioners, allied health professionals, social workers, and support staff,” she said.

CTV News brought up patient complaints about early closures and nurse-only shifts, and asked why she was opening another UPCC when her ministry is having a tough time finding staff for existing sites.

“We know that there are workforce pressures across British Columbia right now, and so certainly UPCCs are not alone in that, and certain communities are experiencing that strain more than ever,” replied Osborne. “(UPCCs) really take the pressure off of emergency rooms if somebody knows that they have a minor issue that can be dealt with quickly at a centre such as this.”

The interim medical director of the facility also acknowledged the staffing issue, but was optimistic about ramping up to 25 full-time clinical personnel.

“There’s no denying the fact that there’s going to be, in the next little while, challenges to get a full slate,” said Dr. Nimeera Kassam. “But it’s looking very hopeful, more hopeful than ever before.”

The B.C. Conservative health critic, who is a family doctor herself, questioned whether the UPCCs were giving taxpayers good value for money and suggested the province needs to be more transparent about how useful they really are.

“How much is it costing per visit? It seems that they’re quite inefficient on costs per patient as compared to a GP’s office,” said Dr. Anna Kindy. “The whole system needs a serious review.”

The NDP government has been phasing out walk-in clinics by throttling the number of patients doctors are paid to see in a day and focusing their efforts on attaching patients to primary care doctors for long-term medical care, rather than one-off episodic treatment.

While the number of British Columbians without a family doctor is slowly shrinking and a new medical school opens in Surrey this fall, there are continued emergency department closures and maternity diversions at hospitals, including in urban centres.

The Port Coquitlam UPCC will be the 46th such facility to operate in British Columbia. Unlike smaller facilities, it has medical imaging capabilities, including digital x-rays and ultrasound.