A new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC) is planned to open by early 2025 in Williams Lake, according to an announcement today from B.C.'s Ministry of Health.
The healthcare centre will be located at 280 North Mackenzie (also known as 47 Cameron St.), and would be open seven days a week, 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., including statutory holidays, once fully staffed.
A UPCC is a primary health care centre staffed by physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, social workers and other administrative staff, providing a team-based approach for people needing care within 12-24 hours. Similar to what many call a walk-in clinic, the centre would have 18 full time equivalent health care workers.
When asked how they expect to staff the new facility, with the current shortage in the area, Health Minister Adrian Dix said a new facility will help attract staff, and the province has managed to staff other new facilities like this in many other communities in the province.
"We've consistently shown that we can do this," he said, adding the province has brought on 861 new family doctors since a new model was developed with the Doctors of BC. He said since he has been Minister of Health, the province has tripled the number of nurse practitioners and has added 6,000 new nurses in the past year.
Dix said the new facility will help provide more options for people in the community to access primary care. He said the absolute focus at the moment, however, is to address staff shortages at Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) and prevent more emergency room closures at the facility.
CMH has had 12 overnight closures since late 2023.
"We're full-on to support the community," said Dix.
Conditions such as sprains, cuts, fevers and minor infections would be the types of concerns appropriate to be addressed at the UPCC and the longer hours help provide better access to more people.
Patients would be able to access the centre's primary care via in-person, walk-in same-day appointments.
The UPCC could serve people who do not have a primary care provider, as well as people with a provider who are unable to schedule an appointment within 12 to 24 hours.
There are so far nine UPCCs operating within the Interior Health region, with existing centres in Vernon, Kelowna, Kamloops, Castlegar, West Kelowna, Cranbrook, Pentiction, Ashcroft and Ruthland. The new facility's capital cost will be shared by the provincial government via Interior Health and the Cariboo Memorial Regional Hospital District.
Dix emphasized the focus on continued recruitment of health care workers, and said his call in to this week's Williams Lake city council meeting was a great opportunity to have an open discussion on the issues the community is facing in a public forum.
He expressed confidence in the new Cariboo Memorial Hospital facility also being able to help attract new workers to the community.
