BC Government: Transforming primary care on the North Shore

Press Release

Aug. 5, 2020

NORTH VANCOUVER – Government is transforming everyday health care for people living in the North Shore region by establishing three networks of team-based primary care providers, which will bring additional resources and strengthened support to the region.

Over the next four years, across the three networks in the North Shore region, residents will benefit from an additional 62 full-time equivalent health-care providers who will provide better access to primary care. This includes 17 family physicians, one new nurse practitioner and 44 additional health-care professionals ranging from registered nurses, to allied health-care professionals, social workers, Indigenous health co-ordinators and clinical pharmacists.

“As part of our government’s primary care strategy, we’re making life better for everyone in B.C. with team-based health care through primary care networks to provide a seamless patient-centred experience that is responsive to the unique needs of each community,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “The North Shore primary care networks will address long-standing gaps in everyday health care for people living in the communities making up the North Shore region so that patients can get the care they need, when they need it, closer to home.”

The North Shore primary care networks will see community partners work together to ensure tens of thousands of people have access to comprehensive, co-ordinated and team-based primary care services for all of their day-to-day health-care needs in  the districts of North and West Vancouver, the Tsleil Waututh Nation, the City of North Vancouver and the Squamish Nation, as well as the municipalities of Bowen Island and Lions Bay.

Each network will provide a full range of accessible, everyday health services that will better support patients and providers. These three networks will be the Primary Care Network West, the Primary Care Network Central and the Primary Care Network East.

The North Shore networks were developed to better meet the specific needs of the community. The networks will strengthen services identified as high priority. These include:

• better access to chronic disease and chronic pain management;
• improved access to mild to moderate mental health and substance use services;
• better co-ordinated services for families and seniors who are frail and people with complex health issues;
• more access to comprehensive services for people living in poverty; and
• culturally safe care for Indigenous people.

The networks will work to attach the approximately 28,000 people who do not have a consistent primary care provider in the region, while also providing team-based and culturally safe care to residents of the North Shore.

An Aboriginal Services Collaborative, representing all Indigenous Nations and service providers, has been established to advise on the implementation of primary care. Local Elders will be supported to provide traditional wellness and peer support, as champions in their communities. For Indigenous peoples, this will mean more co-ordinated and culturally safe primary care support.

“North Shore residents will be able to benefit from a more integrated approach to the health-care experience, enabling them to access a full range of health-care services from birth to end of life,” said Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale. “Patient referrals will be more streamlined from one care provider to another, and family physicians, nurse practitioners and other primary health-care providers will be better supported.”

The North Shore primary care networks are a result of a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, North Shore Division of Family Practice and the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

The Ministry of Health will provide approximately $11 million annually to the North Shore primary care networks once they are fully established.

The Vancouver Coastal region now has six primary care networks, including three in Richmond. In addition, the North Shore urgent and primary care centre opened in November 2019.

Learn More:

To learn more about how patients can register, visit to be attached to a family physician or nurse practitioner, visit:
https://www.divisionsbc.ca/north-shore

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

Two backgrounders follow.

Contact:

Ministry of Health
Communications
250 952-1887 (media line)

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BACKGROUNDER 1

Facts about the North Shore primary care networks

According to BC Stats data, the communities that the North Shore primary care networks will serve have a combined population of more than 208,000. Services will be available in the districts of North and West Vancouver, the Tsleil Waututh Nation, the City of North Vancouver, the Squamish Nation, the municipalities of Bowen Island, and Lions Bay.

New resources being allocated include:

• 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) primary care resources for increasing primary care providers, which will increase primary care attachment and access in the North Shore area:
  • 10 FTE family physicians
  • 15 FTE registered nurses
• 16 FTE primary care resources for the implementation of a satellite team that will serve all three North Shore primary care networks
  • 13 FTE allied health professionals
  • 3 FTE clinical pharmacists
• 4 FTE primary care resources for the Hope Incubator Clinic, associated with the University of British Columbia medical program.
  • 3 FTE family physicians
  • 1 FTE registered nurse
• 6.5 FTE primary care resources for the Health Connections Clinic. This clinic serves the most vulnerable people in the North Shore region.
  • 2.5 FTE family physicians or nurse practioners
  • 3 FTE registered nurses
  • 1 FTE allied health providers
• 2.5 FTE primary care resources for the Foundry Youth Health Services Health Connections Clinic. This clinic serves youth within the North Shore region.
  • 1 FTE family physician or nurse practitioner
  • 1.5 allied health providers
• 8 FTE primary care resources for First Nations and Aboriginal Primary Care Strategies.
  • 1 FTE family physician
  • 1 FTE nurse practitioner
  • 1 FTE registered nurse
  • 2 FTE allied health provider
  • 1.5 FTE Traditional Healer
  • 1.5 FTE Traditional Elder

Contact:

Ministry of Health
Communications
250 952-1887 (media line)

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BACKGROUNDER 2

What people are saying about primary care networks

Dr. Penny Ballem, board chair, Vancouver Coastal Health –

“Partnerships with Aboriginal communities and the division of family practice are foundational to our approach to building and sustaining a system of strong, culturally safe health services in the North Shore region and across Vancouver Coastal Health. By working together with our partners, we know the primary care network will reflect the unique cultural and health-care needs of the North Shore.”

Dr. Dean Brown, physician lead, the North Shore Division of Family Practice –

“As a doctor, I know patients can have a fragmented health-care experience, and I am confident the new North Shore primary care networks will improve the patient experience greatly, ensuring people get the right care, at the right time, by the right provider.”

Dr. Raymond Chaboyer, a Cree First Nations doctor and chair of the North Shore Division of Family Practice –

“The North Shore Division and our local Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nation partners are especially grateful to the Ministry of Health for formally incorporating traditional First Nations Elders and Healers into the health-care system and into our local primary care networks. This is a truly ground-breaking initiative that will enable culturally safe support and care for our First Nations patients. This North Shore PCN will allow a more team-oriented approach to the provision of primary care on the North Shore. The North Shore Division of Family Practice enthusiastically endorses these primary care networks and welcomes them to the North Shore.”

Dr. Kathleen Ross, president, Doctors of BC –

“The best health-care systems in the world have strong primary care and we hope that the primary care network initiative provides additional needed resources to doctors serving their community. A primary care network will collectively increase a community’s capacity to provide greater access to primary care for those who need it, especially for vulnerable patients and those with complex health conditions.”

Michael Sandler, executive director, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC –

“The Association of the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC is pleased that the knowledge, skills and expertise of the entire health-care team will improve access to health care for British Columbians through the new primary care networks. We believe that this approach will be pivotal in ensuring B.C. families feel connected to their health-care team and we are excited to see the launch of primary care networks in B.C.”

Contact:

Ministry of Health
Communications
250 952-1887 (media line)

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