More people in southeast Vancouver will have increased access to team-based, everyday health care with a new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) opening March 29, 2022, at 5880 Victoria Dr.

“The new Vancouver Southeast UPCC will provide quality same-day, everyday health care to people in Vancouver, including under-served and vulnerable populations,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “We are working with our partners to create strong primary care services on the Lower Mainland and throughout British Columbia. This crucial UPCC builds on other centres already in place, including Vancouver City Centre, Northeast Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, and Research, Education and Action for Community Health (REACH).”

The centre will serve two purposes: one is to provide care for people with non-life-threatening conditions who need to see a health-care provider within 12 to 24 hours but do not require an emergency department, such as patients with sprains, cuts, high fevers and minor infections. Care will be available at the centre from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sundays and holidays.

The second purpose is to help attach patients to a regular primary care provider. To facilitate this, the centre, once fully staffed, will attach patients to health-care providers and will provide ongoing wrap-around care for unattached patients on an interim basis while they arrange for patients to be connected to other local practices for care. The team will begin providing long-term primary care services for adults with medically complex needs, seniors and underserved and vulnerable populations.  

“People need access to high-quality mental-health and addictions care – it is a vital part of our health system,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “I am encouraged that with the opening of this urgent and primary care centre, more people in southeast Vancouver will be able to connect to the mental-health and addictions supports they need and deserve.”

Once fully staffed, the UPCC will include approximately 22 full-time equivalent (FTE) clinical health-care professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses and social workers providing urgent and primary care services to people living in southeast Vancouver.

“A new UPCC in southeast Vancouver means more opportunity for people to get the health care they need,” said Mable Elmore, Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors’ Services and Long-Term Care and MLA for Vancouver-Kensington. “I’m proud of our government for working to bring more care to more people in their own communities.”

The Vancouver Southeast UPCC is a collaboration between Vancouver Coastal Health, the Ministry of Health, the Vancouver Division of Family Practice and other community partners. It is part of the Vancouver South Primary Care Network.

“Establishing another UPCC in Vancouver is exciting news for many people in the region who can benefit from progress with our primary care strategy,” said George Chow, Minister of State for Trade and MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview. “This next step will increase access to doctors, nurses and other health-care workers for people living in our community, offering timely care even closer to home.”

This is the 27th UPCC announced under government's primary care strategy and the sixth in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Since Feb. 3, 2022, Vancouver City Centre, Northeast Vancouver and REACH UPCC’s self-reported a total of 163,251 patient visits.

Quotes:

Vivian Eliopoulos, president and CEO, Vancouver Coastal Health –

“We’re pleased to continue collaborating with our partners to enhance access to care for more individuals and families in our region. The new Vancouver Southeast Urgent and Primary Care Centre allows us to provide clients with urgent health-care services and ongoing care and support when they need it, all within their own community.”

Dr. Jay Slater, board chair, Vancouver Divisions of Family Practice –

“The Vancouver Division is pleased to welcome this new UPCC to Vancouver. We are committed to integrating this resource into Primary Care Network 6 to help support members and patients alike. We want to thank all the partners, including Vancouver Coastal Health and the Ministry of Health, for their passion and contribution.”

Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president, Doctors of BC –

“We look forward to the integration of the Vancouver Southeast UPCC in hopes it will strengthen primary care in the community. Doctors of BC has a strong interest in ensuring people have access to the health-care services they need. We also emphasize the importance of measures that strengthen the long-term relationships between patients and their family doctor. These relationships have been shown to improve health outcomes, help avoid preventable illness and reduce the cost of health care.”

Michael Sandler, executive director, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia –

“Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC are pleased to see that the knowledge, skills and expertise of the entire health-care team will be utilized to improve access to health care for all British Columbians through urgent and primary-care clinics. We believe that this approach will be pivotal in ensuring B.C. families can access health-care services, and we are excited to see the opening of another urgent and primary-care clinic in B.C.”

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

A backgrounder follows.