New urgent and primary care centre opens in Maple Ridge

Press Release

Aug. 6, 2020

MAPLE RIDGE – More people in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and surrounding communities will have increased access to better, improved health care with the opening of the Ridge Meadows Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) in its permanent location at Haney Place Mall in September.

“Today we’re announcing a permanent location for the Ridge Meadows Urgent and Primary Care Centre. We’re working hard to keep people safe during the pandemic, while also meeting the day-to-day health care needs of growing communities, like Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows,” said Premier John Horgan. “It’s all part of how we’re making progress on better, faster health care for people.”

The opening of this new and expanded Ridge Meadows UPCC at Haney Place Mall will provide care for approximately 25,000 patients each year who will be seen by a team of health-care providers including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, clinical counsellors and office staff.

The UPCC is operated by Fraser Health, with the support of the Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice and the Katzie First Nation.

“The Ridge Meadows UPCC reflects how our government’s primary care strategy is leveraging community collaboration to strengthen and expand primary care services across our province,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “The centre is a permanent fixture in this community and will help address gaps in everyday health care and support a long-term relationship between patients and their health-care provider — bringing health care in this region closer to home.”

The Ridge Meadows UPCC will serve two purposes. The first purpose will be to provide more 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.

The second purpose will be to help attach patients to a regular primary care provider. The Ridge Meadows UPCC is part of the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows primary care networks (PCN) and is working with the Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice to connect patients in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to physicians and nurse practitioners in their community.

Once the new location opens, patients will be able to see a primary care provider from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and weekends.

There are 17 urgent and primary care centres that have been announced under the government’s primary care strategy. Of those, five centres are in the Fraser Health region, including North Surrey, Surrey Newton, Burnaby Edmonds, Abbotsford and at the new permanent location in Maple Ridge.

Quotes:

Bob D’Eith, MLA for Maple Ridge-Mission –

“We are working hard to restart the economy with the Province, and this new UPCC will make a big difference in the lives of people in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows by adding not only convenient health care services, but also health care and construction jobs. We anticipate local stores, coffee shops, restaurants and other businesses in the Haney Place Mall will see an increase in sales as more people visit the UPCC.”

Lisa Beare, MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows –

“I know how hard it can be for many people in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to find a family doctor and I am proud that our government is working to bring meaningful change in the lives of people in Maple Ridge and the surrounding communities.”

Chief Grace George, Katzie First Nation –

“The Katzie First Nation primary care health program is excited to continue working with community partners to offer a holistic approach that incorporates physical, mental, emotional and spiritual elements of healing and growth for people supported at the new urgent and primary care centre. We look forward to supporting even more people as the UPCC and the PCNs continue to grow.”

Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO, Fraser Health –

“By working with our partners, we are able to co-ordinate health services to support patients and their families to manage existing health conditions, avoid unnecessary hospital visits and remain healthy and independent as long as possible. Community services like the Ridge Meadows Urgent and Primary Care Centre and PCN have been integral to our COVID-19 response in ensuring ongoing primary care, assessment and testing is available to all those who need it.”

Dr. Kathleen Ross, president, Doctors of BC –

“We look forward to the integration of the Ridge Meadows UPCC in hopes it will strengthen primary care in the community and ensure people there have access to the health-care services they need while also supporting long-term relationships between patients and their family doctor.”

Jacqollyne Keath, board chair, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC –

“Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of B.C. 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.”

Dr. Melodie Prem-Smith, primary care network physician lead, board chair, Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice –

“We are motivated in this new partnership with Fraser Health, Katzie First Nation and division members to work in an innovative way together by bringing new allied health-care providers, such as social workers, counsellors, cultural advisors and dieticians, into our family practice to work, and have easy access for our patients — working as an integrated team together. We are working together to find creative ways to bring more family doctors to our community, that we are in great need of. With more doctors, our new nurse practitioners and primary care network service team members, we are hopeful to work toward giving our community the health-care system it deserves.”

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

Two backgrounders follow.

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Jen Holmwood
Press Secretary
Deputy Communications Director
Office of the Premier
Jen.Holmwood@gov.bc.ca
250 818-4881

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

Fraser Health
Communications
media@fraserhealth.ca
604 450-7881

BACKGROUNDER 1

Ridge Meadows Urgent and Primary Care Centre

The new, permanent and expanded Ridge Meadows UPCC includes the following:

The UPCC will be located at Unit 7/8 at Haney Place Mall, 11900 Haney Place, Maple Ridge.
The UPCC will provide improved access to care through extended weekend and evening hours.
The UPCC will be open seven days a week, 365 days a year.
People can self-refer for their urgent and primary care needs. Patients can also be referred by community service providers, other health-care professionals and agencies.
People can schedule appointments. During busy periods, appointments will be prioritized based on urgency.
Patients requiring laboratory testing beyond the simple specimen collection will be provided with requisitions for lab tests to be completed at nearby laboratories.
The UPCC is an integral part of the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows primary care network catchment (population approximately 110,000).
Of the total catchment population, 18,713 or 17% are considered unattached.
In 2018-19, approximately 43% visits at the emergency department by Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows residents were triaged as non-emergency at the Meadows Hospital and Health Care Centre. Many of these non-urgent conditions could have been managed in a primary care setting, such as an UPCC.
Total capital costs for the Ridge Meadows UPCC are estimated to be $4.2 million.
The permanent and expanded UPCC is 763 square metres (8,211 square feet) and will include a reception, waiting area, exam rooms, counselling rooms, office spaces and a multipurpose room.
UPCCs are part of a comprehensive provincial strategy to transform B.C.’s health system by bringing together and co-ordinating with health-care providers, services and programs to make it easier for people to access care, receive followup care, and connect to other services they may need.

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Jen Holmwood
Press Secretary
Deputy Communications Director
Office of the Premier
Jen.Holmwood@gov.bc.ca
250 818-4881

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

Fraser Health
Communications
media@fraserhealth.ca
604 450-7881

BACKGROUNDER 2

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows primary care networks (PCNs)

Maple Ridge, Haney and Pitt Meadows have a combined population of approximately 110,000. The health professionals working in the two PCNs will be part of a networked and team-based approach to providing care. Recruitments include:

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows PCN

8.75 FTE general practitioners, six FTE nurse practitioners, four FTE registered nurses, 10 FTE allied health professionals, two clinical pharmacists and five specialist physician groups (contracted).
The PCN is expected to attach over 19,000 patients by 2022-23.

First Nations Resources

In addition, the primary care networks will include 0.5 FTE nurse practitioners to support the Katize First Nation and 0.5 Elder in care to support culturally safe and traditional care.
These resources are expected to attach 300 patients by 2022-23.

Other Resource Supports

Five sessional specialists including an endocrinologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist, geriatrician and chronic pain specialists will be added to the Wellness Centre.

How people can access primary care networks:

Each network will actively communicate with its community as it grows its services so people living in the community know how and where to access the health services they need.

Primary care network attributes include:

processes to ensure all people in a community have access to quality primary care and are attached within a primary care network;
provision of extended hours of care, including early mornings, evenings and weekends;
provision of same-day access for urgently needed care through the PCN or a UPCC;
access to advice and information virtually (e.g., online, text, email) and face to face;
provision of comprehensive primary care services through networking of primary care providers and teams, to include maternity, inpatient, residential, mild/moderate mental health and substance use, and preventative care;
co-ordination of care with diagnostic services, hospital care, specialty care and specialized community services for all patients and with a particular emphasis on those with mental-health and substance-use conditions, those with complex medical conditions and/or frailty, and surgical services provided in community;
clear communication within the network of providers and to the public to create awareness about appropriate use of services; and
care that is culturally safe and appropriate.

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Jen Holmwood
Press Secretary
Deputy Communications Director
Office of the Premier
Jen.Holmwood@gov.bc.ca
250 818-4881

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

Fraser Health
Communications
media@fraserhealth.ca
604 450-7881

Connect with the Province of B.C. at: news.gov.bc.ca/connect

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