People living in and near Trail now have more access to team-based primary care through the new Lower Columbia Community Health Centre (Lower Columbia CHC).

“The Lower Columbia Community Health Centre will provide high-quality primary health care for people living in and around Trail, building on our work to connect more people with primary-care providers close to home,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. “This centre will help to build more connections for people with family physicians and nurse practitioners in the Kootenay region, increasing access to health services and strengthening our health-care system.”

Once fully operational, the Lower Columbia CHC, at 106-1101 Dewdney Ave., is expected to connect more than 7,200 patients with a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Additionally, the health centre will have a full-time equivalent (FTE) clinical staff of approximately 17.9, plus relief FTE health-care workers, one FTE executive director and a 0.2 FTE medical director. Currently, about 10 FTE staff have been hired since the soft opening on July 21, 2025:

• 3.6 FTE family physicians;
• 1.75 FTE nurse practitioners;
• 2.5 FTE social workers;
• 0.9 FTE community health worker;
• an FTE executive director; and
• 0.2 FTE medical director.

The Lower Columbia CHC will be open 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturdays.

“The Lower Columbia Community Health Centre will be an important part of the network of care serving the residents of Trail and surrounding communities,” said Sylvia Weir, interim president and CEO, Interior Health. “This centre reflects local collaboration and the shared vision to improve access to primary care across the region.”

As of September 2025, the Province has committed startup funding of more than $2 million, which includes $1.7 million for tenant improvements. Annual operational funding is $1.63 million.

The health centre will be operated by the Lower Columbia Community Health Centre Society (LCCHCS), a non-profit society that provides holistic, accessible health care in the Kootenay region.

The Lower Columbia CHC is a community-driven initiative made possible through the collaboration of the Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice, Interior Health and the Ministry of Health. The Lower Columbia CHC will be part of the Kootenay Boundary primary care network (PCN), which brings together health-care providers throughout the region to improve access to team-based, comprehensive, culturally safe primary care.

The investment in the Lower Columbia CHC aligns with the Province’s primary-care strategy to improve access to team-based, patient-focused care though PCNs, which are geographically based, locally planned and co-ordinated systems of primary care, as well as single-site models of care such as First Nations primary-care programs and urgent and primary-care centres.

Quotes:

Steve Morissette, MLA for Kootenay-Monashee –

“The opening of this community health centre is wonderful news for people living in and around Trail. It is through collaboration and thanks to the community-minded approach of the Lower Columbia Community Health Centre Society that this centre is possible. This is another action to increase access to team-based primary care for people and strengthen our health-care system.”

Rita MacLeod, executive director, Lower Columbia Community Health Centre Society –

“We are proud to open the Lower Columbia Community Health Centre, created through the vision and hard work of local volunteers to address the gap in primary care. Our team, including family physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, community outreach workers and medical office assistants, is already providing accessible, responsive and individualized care. I am excited to be part of bringing high-quality, team-based care to the residents of the Lower Columbia.”

Quick Facts:

• The new LCCHC in Trail is one of three publicly funded CHCs operating in the Interior Health region and 14 ministry-funded CHCs in the province.
• Publicly funded CHCs are required to be integrated into primary-care networks.
• Currently, 92 primary-care networks are increasing primary-care services in most communities throughout B.C.

Learn More:

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

To learn about the Province’s health human resources strategy, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022HLTH0059-001464

To sign up to be matched with a family doctor or nurse practitioner on the Health Connect Registry, visit: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-connect-registry