It will be easier for Surrey residents to receive ongoing primary health care when one of 10 new urgent primary-care centres in the province opens in fall 2018, announced Premier John Horgan.

“We are making innovative changes to public health care so that it works for British Columbians, providing them with timely, effective care in their communities,” said Premier Horgan. “By opening urgent primary-care centres in all of the health regions, we are delivering on our promise to improve quality of care, and provide more care to more people.”

“Team-based care is the future of health care, and will be the standard for primary care throughout B.C.,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “Urgent primary-care centres are part of an overhaul of the way British Columbians access day-to-day health care. One in six people in this province don’t have a doctor. For too long, over half of the people living in B.C. have been unable to get same-day or next-day appointments with their primary-care providers. It’s time for families to have easier and improved access to health care.”

The Surrey Urgent Primary Care Centre will be integrated into a local network of health-care providers, services and programs, making it easier for people to receive follow-up care and access other services they may need. The centre, and the primary-care network it will be a part of, will work to connect people to consistent health-care providers in the community who are accepting new patients. Close to 78,000 people in Surrey do not have a family doctor.

“Surrey is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada, and we want to support people of all ages and walks of life in accessing the services they need to thrive,” said Michael Marchbank, Fraser Health’s president and CEO. “The new Surrey Urgent Primary Care Centre connects people directly to a team-based approach to health care, which will collaboratively address their health and social needs in a single setting, before emergency interventions are needed.”

The centre will have a team of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and other health-care professionals working together to the full extent of their skills, to provide a broad range of services. At full staffing, this centre will be able to accommodate up to 1,300 unique patient visits per week, and attach up to 5,000 patients over time. Among these patients will be vulnerable residents who have complex care needs, including the frail and elderly, people needing specialized mental health and substance-use services, and the North Surrey/Whalley community.

The centre will also provide diagnosis and care for non-emergency conditions requiring medical attention within 12 to 24 hours, including lacerations, earaches, back pain, and sore throats.

When the centre opens, area residents can visit the location and have their needs assessed by a nurse or other team member. People may also be directed to the centre by community- or hospital-based care providers. A variety of appointment options will be available, including one-on-one visits, appointments with multiple providers, telehealth visits, home visits and group appointments that support people with similar conditions. The centre will also provide outreach services by connecting nurses to community locations, such as shelters.

The hours of the Surrey Urgent Primary Care Centre will be daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The centre will be located at 9639 – 137A St., near specialists’ offices, supportive health-care services and Surrey Memorial Hospital. The proximity to the hospital will make it easy for hospital staff to refer patients to the centre for follow-up care, when appropriate. As well, the centre’s staff will be able to easily direct people to hospital-based services, when necessary.

All 10 urgent primary-care centres will be open within the next 12 months, and are a key part of the Province’s new primary health-care strategy, which is focused on improving services for patients through team-based care. The strategy will see government fund and recruit 200 family doctors and 200 nurse practitioners, and hire 50 clinical pharmacists to help provide all British Columbians with faster and improved access to health care.

Learn More:

To learn more about the Province’s Primary Health-care Strategy, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018PREM0034-001010

To learn more about the Province’s strategy to increase the number of nurse practitioners, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018HLTH0034-000995

To learn more about the Province’s strategy to recruit and retain more family medicine graduates, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018HLTH0052-001043